The Future of Humans and Monsters
by freakyanimegal
Summary: Long ago before the tree withered, monsters also ruled the world. The humans and elves imprisoned them underground before warring against themselves. There was no surprise there was animosity towards humans, or the half-breed that lived among them. The queen's child from a previous love, a human love, what kind of future could such a being create? Both Kratos and his future son.
1. Chapter 1

**This is what happens when my sister and I are bored. We come up with this stuff. And I just wrote it down I guess (shrug).**

He hummed, his little paws patting down the ground. Maybe the seeds would grow this time. There weren't many plants down here, except the ones Momma had grown in pots. If he could make their seeds grow down here, maybe the air would be fresher, and Momma would be happier. The dirt was a bit of a hassle to get out of the white fur on his paws, but most of his body didn't have fur anyway so it should be easier to clean off. As he worked, his floppy ears kept getting in the way of his sight, if the shaggy red hair didn't.

Momma didn't have a 'mane' like his, but Asgore did. But Asgore wasn't his dad, so he wasn't sure if that meant anything. Momma said her father had had a red mane though, so maybe he was like him. He had asked her about his dad, but she wouldn't tell him anything about him. Not a lot of people seemed to like his dad. They didn't seem to like humans very much in general, but for some reason his father was a real sore spot.

The only one who would tell him anything about his father was Momma, and she just told him that she had met him when they lived on the surface, during the big war. He was still really little when Momma married the king and became queen, but he wasn't a prince. When Momma had another baby, that would be the prince or princess. He didn't quite follow what the big deal was about it, but it seemed important.

He sighed and sat down, his long fluffy feet sticking up, covered in dirt. Momma would probably make him take a bath, he pouted. Baths always left his fur damp, his hair too. Oh well, it would all be worth it.

"Oh well, hello, Kratos. What might you be up to?"

He twitched, slowly looking up at the tall shadow that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. Dr. Gaster was the royal scientist, he was very smart, very tall, and very creepy. He was always smiling but it wasn't a smile that made him happy, like Momma, it was….it was creepy.

"Uhm…." He huddled in on himself, looking around.

"Still shy of me? Dear boy, you needn't be. I work for your mother after all."

He knew that, it didn't help.

"So how are you doing?"

He didn't answer.

"Hm…well, dear boy, might I ask you a favor?"

The monster crouched down closer to his level, so Kratos could see his creepy smile all the more clearly.

"You see, it'd be a big help to my studies if you'd let me take a look at your soul."

"M- my soul?" he blinked, frowning. "Momma says my soul is important."

"Oh it is, yes, but it's important to all of us. Your soul is, anyway….'

"Why?" he fidgeted, scooting away a bit.

"Because you're half human, of course. Human souls are very powerful, you know. It would be very helpful if I got to see yours, since it's part human."

"Um…."

"Kratos!" he heard his Momma calling.

"Oh dear, well, nevermind then." Gaster winked, a bony finger to his mouth. "Keep this our little secret, ok?"

And in a blink of an eye, he was gone. Kratos shivered, scooting back further away from where the scientist had just crouched.

"Kratos!" Momma called again. "Dear, where are you-? Oh! There you are, my child!"

Momma smiled and came over to him, then frowned.

"Dear, you are all dirty!" she shook her head. "Were you playing in the dirt again? Well, I suppose you are due for a bath anyway."

She scooped him up and he finally felt safe again, cradled in her big fluffy arms.

"Now, let's get you all cleaned up."

A few minutes passed and Kratos splashed in the tub, giggling as his mother washed his ears.

"Now stop wriggling, dear," she smiled as she scolded him.

"It tickles!"

"I know, I know, but you need to stay still." She giggled along with him.

Kratos continued to giggle but stopped moving, letting his mother was him and the water slowly still.

He blinked.

When water didn't move, it was like a mirror, Momma told him. It showed you what was in front of it. A 'reflection' it was called. There was his reflection in the tub now. A small nose, big eyes, a mouth with dull teeth, chubby cheeks, all on a flat, furless face. Aside from his eyebrows, anyway. Some monsters had eyebrows, but not a lot. It made sense, he guessed, because he didn't have a monster face. He had a human face. Except from his hands, feet, ears and his little tail, he was 'human'. It didn't seem to be a good thing…people didn't like it very much.

"My child? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, smiling at her. Momma didn't think it was a bad thing, so how bad could it be?


	2. Chapter 2

**I'll be honest, I didn't really expect reviews, lol**

 **Enjoy.**

It was the day before his birthday when he made his first friend.

Once again he was digging in the dirt, trying to plant all the little seeds from Momma's plants. He hummed Momma's lullaby to himself paying no attention to his surroundings, when suddenly….

"HELLO THERE!"

He yelped and fell over, staring up at the intruder. It was a skeleton monster, like Dr. Gaster, which was enough to make him uneasy, but he was….different.

"OH I'M SORRY! I DID NOT MEAN TO SCARE YOU!" he said. "ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. I AM PAPYRUS!"

He didn't seem to be much older than him, which relaxed him a bit. Apparently he only had about one volume though.

"Um…hi," he waved meekly. "I'm Kratos."

"HELLO KRATOS!" Papyrus waved enthusiastically. "ARE YOU DIGGING? NEAT! MAY I JOIN YOU?"

"Uh…sure," he said, still eying him.

Kratos didn't say much, but that didn't mean it was quiet for even a moment. Papyrus seemed to be quite talkative, but something about the young monster was infectiously happy. So though he didn't say much, he found himself enjoying his company. He hadn't even thought to question why Papyrus was in the castle courtyard, content in enjoying his presence.

"Uh…hey, Pap, made a friend?"

Kratos huddled in on himself. This skeleton was a grown-up, like Dr. Gaster. He was a lot smaller, but that didn't matter, the similarity was enough to unnerve him.

"HELLO BROTHER!" Papyrus waved. "THIS IS MY NEW FRIEND- …FRIEND! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

"F…Friend?" Kratos frowned.

"FRIEND? WHAT A COINCIDENCE!"

Kratos laughed, giggling into his dirty paws.

"No, it's Kratos, remember?"

"OH RIGHT! I FORGOT! HIS NAME IS KRATOS! WE ARE NOW BESTIES!"

Kratos smiled weakly, eying the monster-child. A friend, wow…he never had one of those before…

"Heh, I see." The grown-up skeleton chuckled. "Well glad to see you two are having fun."

"KRATOS! THIS IS MY BROTHER, SANS! SAY HELLO!"

"Uh…hi, Sans…" Kratos waved a little, still half-hidden behind Papyrus.

"Heya kid," Sans winked. "Nice to meetcha."

Kratos nodded but said nothing, scanning this 'Sans'. He didn't seem to be like Gaster aside from being a skeleton…and if he was Papyrus' brother, he had to be ok, right?

"So uh, sorry Pap but we gotta go."

"WHAT? BUT WE ARE PLAYING!" Papyrus pouted.

"Yeah, I know, but we gotta get going. You can come back and play with your buddy tomorrow."

"OKAY!"

"You're leaving?" Kratos frowned, fidgeting with one of his ears.

"DO NOT FEAR, FRIEND! I SHALL BE BACK TOMORROW!"

"Uh….that's my birthday-" he said quietly.

"OH WOW! A BIRTHDAY! I SHALL BRING A GIFT THEN!"

Kratos stared, not having expected that response. What he had been going to say was that he was going to spend time with his Momma, but- but Momma would be okay with him having a friend over, right? After all, it was his first friend. She'd be happy.

"Okay." he smiled weakly. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"OKAY! BYE!"

* * *

Toriel hummed to herself as she worked in the kitchen, preparing the treats for her son's birthday. Guests or no, she would always prepare a party for her child. True, it was a bit lonely with just the two of them, but that was no reason to be dower. She would be happy for his sake, it was the least she could do.

It would be nice if she could allow her son to play outside and make some friends, but….

She frowned, drifting back into her memories as she continued working on instinct.

He was still just barely able to walk when it happened. She was walking along with him in the capital, gingerly holding his tiny paw in her claws. Now it wasn't that no one knew of her child, but just because she made no effort to hide it did not mean there were not those that thought ill of her for it. She supposed it was only natural that monsters hold some animosity towards humans after they had locked them down here, but she had never dreamed that they would be so cruel. Well, perhaps yes she had imagined it, which was why she never let her child stray far, but she had truly hoped they would not be as horrible as she feared.

She recalled leaving the market, smiling down at her child as he babbled on about this that and whatever a child could speak of. Then they turned a corner and things abruptly went quiet. On instinct she scooped her toddler into her arms, glaring at the group of monsters that had blocked her path.

"Hand it over."

"If you want the bag it is just groceries, but take it if you want." She replied coldly.

"We don't want the bag." The leader snapped, claws bared. "Hand over the human."

"He is not a human." She retorted swiftly. "He is my son, now I suggest you-"

"It doesn't matter if he's only part human, as long as his soul works!" another of the group snarled.

Toriel turned but more monsters were blocking her exit. She snarled, red eyes flashing as she conjured flames around them, holding her child close.

Luckily, the situation hadn't progressed any further.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

There was a collective gasp from the group and they quickly fell to their knees as the large figure came into view.

"King Asgore!"

Toriel stared a bit but did not move and did not dismiss her flames, stubbornly holding her ground. Asgore looked over them and glared at the sniveling group of monsters at his feet.

"You were attacking this woman?"

"Your Majesty! Her child is human! We could use its soul-"

"So you would attack a child and its mother?!" Asgore bellowed, snarling. "Have you no shame?! Humans may be so low but I had thought better of my own people!"

He snorted out a plume of flame then snapped over his shoulder at the guard accompanying him.

"Captain Sydna!" he snapped. "See to it these lot are punished!"

"Sir!" the woman saluted. "Let's go, you punks!"

Toriel backed off, finally dismissing her flames as her attackers were lead away by the king's guards. Asgore turned to her, a much kinder expression on his face.

"Are you all right, miss?"

Toriel chuckled out of her memory, returning her thoughts to the present task at hand. She owed a lot to Asgore, truly. He had been nothing but kind to her and her child. When time passed and it came time for them to marry, he had quickly shut down any opposition from monsters like the ones that had tried to harm her child, he would not tolerate it.

True, Asgore did not recognize Kratos as his child, but she understood all the political ramifications of that situation. Asgore's child would be rightful heir, and to acknowledge Kratos as his own when he had yet to have a child would only cause turmoil down the road. Things as they were, they had no interest and perhaps couldn't even spare for any conflict over succession… That didn't matter though, he was kind to her son and treated them well, that was all she could ask.

"Tori? Did you want any help?"

"No dear," Toriel smiled at her spouse. "Just put the streamers up and I can handle it from there."

"All right-"

The doorbell rang.

"Hm?"

"I'll get it, dear," Asgore told her, disappearing from sight.

They hadn't been expecting anyone today, Toriel frowned to herself, hopefully it wasn't an issue that required both their attentions. She wanted to make sure they had some time for Kratos today-

"HELLO!" she heard from the doorway. "I HAVE BROUGHT THE PRESENTS FOR THE BIRTHDAY GOATBOY!"

"Hey, easy there Pap," she heard a deeper voice. "Gotta be polite and introduce ourselves first."

"OH RIGHT! HELLO LARGE GOATMAN! I AM PAPYRUS AND I AM HERE FOR THE BIRTHDAY OF THE KRATOS! AND THIS IS SANS!"

"Pap that's the king."

"HELLO KING GOATMAN!"

Toriel set down what she was doing and came to the doorway, curious about the development. Two skeleton monsters were at the door, the younger one holding up a small stack of gifts.

"Oh! You're Dr. Gaster's sons, yes?" Asgore asked.

"You are here for Kratos' birthday?" Toriel stared.

"INDEED! FOR YOU SEE, KRATOS AND I ARE BESTIES!"

Toriel squealed.

"Tori-?" Asgore flinched, surprised.

"Oh please do come in!" Toriel chirped, her tail wagging happily. "Oh, Kratos should have told me you were his friend! Come in, come in! I am sure he will be overjoyed!"

As they were ushered into the house the elder skeleton scanned the area, quiet. The Doc was quite interested in the half-human, he guessed it was easy to see why. Then again, he chuckled quietly to himself, it's not as if he was exactly normal either. Well, today wasn't about that, anyway. His little brother was going to have fun today with his friend, and he'd step in if someone decided to crash the party; no matter who it was.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter includes copius amounts of Sans. I'm sure you don't mind.**

 **I own nothing.**

Sans leaned against the wall, watching his little bro play with the queen's kid. He was having fun; as cool as his bro was, he didn't get to go to a lot of parties, so this was a win for all of them. The queen and king had both been pretty hospitable to them, though after introductions he didn't get to talk to them much. That was fine with him though, they were focusing on the kids and making the halfie's birthday special. Was really quite an interesting thing to see, a human-monster.

Probably explained why Gaster kept skulking around.

Now it wasn't that he in particular disliked the doc, but damn if he couldn't be creepy. Sure it was interesting that there was a halfie soul down here with them, but it was a kid, not a test subject. The ole doc didn't seem to get that through his skull. He thought he was being slick, skulking about and spying, but he really did have a thick skull if he thought he wasn't aware of it. 'Interesting' as the kid was, trying to research the queen's kid was going to only end badly. Good thing the kid didn't seem to have a clue, so he could enjoy his special day.

Luckily, Gaster didn't seem to be up to doing anything outright creepy today. So the little party passed without incident and drew to a close.

"Thank you both so much for coming!" the queen chirped, talking more to Papyrus than to him. "It was a lot of fun!"

"Yeah!" her halfie kid grinned, standing in front of her.

"INDEED IT WAS! NOW THEN, IT IS THE TIME OF CLEANING UP?" Papyrus asked, grabbing a broom from seemingly nowhere.

"Oh, how kind of you! Such a polite young man you are!" she smiled, patting Papyrus on the head.

"NYEH! INDEED, I AM VERY GREAT AT POLITENESS!"

Sans wordlessly assisted the children and the queen with cleanup duty. The king had gone off somewhere, probably doing kingly duties and the like. That was how it went with these types. They hadn't said much to him, but he didn't mind. He wasn't much for small talk, he was just here for the kids, anyway. Though it couldn't be avoided, in the end, he supposed.

"Truly, I cannot thank you enough for bringing your brother over," she said to him as he helped her clean. "Kratos has not had very many opportunities to make friends, you see, so-"

"Hey, no prob, your majesty," Sans winked. "Pap was happy to be here. I don't think he slept last night, he was too excited to hang out with his bestie."

"He's a very kind boy."

"Yup, Pap's great." Sans' grin somehow widened.

They didn't speak much more than that, heck he hardly saw the lady after that. He'd stop by with Pap to either drop him off or pick him up, but he hardly ran into the royals proper anymore after that point. Just the queen's little bastard. Er, not that he thought the kid was bad, just that he was illegitimate, therefore, a bastard. Words were weird like that. Though he didn't chat the kid up much either, just kept an eyesocket on him from time to time, to make sure a certain scientist wasn't up to anything too nefarious.

So he certainly didn't expect Pap and Undyne to kick down the door to his living room one day, both of them holding the half-human above their heads.

"NYEH!"

"NGAH!"

"Please put me down-"

"NYGAAAHEEEEHH"

Sans rose a magically appearing eyebrow, sitting up from his slump on the couch.

"Uh, heya Pap, I didn't know you were bringing friends over."

"INDEED! UNDYNE AND I BROUGHT KRATOS OVER SO WE COULD DO THE HANGING OUT!" Papyrus proclaimed.

"Uh, neat, did you ask his mom first?"

"INDEED! SHE SAID AS LONG AS WE WERE ESCORTED BY MRS. UNDYNE'S MOM!"

"That'd be me."

A fishy lady that looked strikingly like Undyne strolled in behind the children, half irritated looking and half amused.

"Captain Sydna," she waved at Sans laxly. "Tori- Her Majesty asked me to escort the kids to your place."

"INDEED! FOR THE HANGING OUT!"

"YEAH! LET'S PUNCH STUFF!" Undyne hollered in equal volume.

"Yeah yeah, punks, go play already." Sydna gestured toward Papyrus' room.

The children wasted no time in sprinting to Papyrus' room, a still bemused and flustered Kratos yelping at their speed.

"Kids," Sydna shook her head. "So…you're Sans, right?"

"Yup, so what do I owe the honor to, Captain lady?" Sans stood, his hands in his pockets.

The woman pursed her lips, eying Sans intently. Undyne'd probably look a lot like her when she was grown, aside from the scar across her right eye and the oddly feminine ears despite her robust appearance.

"Look, I have a message of sorts from the queen," she said firmly. "She's happy her kid's getting out and meeting people, but you gotta understand the situation. Given the kid's uh, 'heritage'-"

"Some monsters don't have such pure intentions to him, thus it can be dangerous, keep an eyesocket on the kids, etc, is that where you're goin' with it?" Sans shrugged. "Yeah I can put two and two together. I won't let'em go far."

"….Can you do that?" Sydna's good eye narrowed. "I was thinking I might assign a bodyguard but…well-"

"Ya don't know if you can trust'em? Yeah I gotcha."

"You're smarter than you look," Sydna snorted a bit, her arms crossed. "Yes, that's exactly it."

"I'd have to be smarter than I look, now wouldn't I?" he winked. "But seriously, I got ya covered."

* * *

Kratos was dumbfounded by how much energy his friend and the new child had. He'd seen Undyne once or twice before, when the Captain had brought her by for…well he wasn't sure, just that he'd seen her around the castle before. She was just as loud and energetic as Papyrus, but a tad more…aggressive.

But hey, it was better than digging up dirt by himself.

Though there was the matter that this was Papyrus' house, which meant, it was also the doctor's house. That little tidbit made it hard for him to really relax, but if he was with Papyrus, he would be okay right? As creepy as Gaster was, he wouldn't do something like that in front of his son.

At least, he hoped.

However, being a child, his attention span quickly refocused itself to playing with his new friends. He had practically forgotten Gaster even existed until it was time to go home. Sans had opened the door, knocking to get their attention.

"Heya, kiddos, I know you're having fun but it's time for me to walk you home."

"NYEH," Papyrus pouted. "VERY WELL."

"Aw man but we were having fun!" Undyne yelled.

"Yeah yeah, I know, but your moms want you back," Sans shrugged. "So get your stuff together, kiddos."

From what Sans deduced of Undyne and Kratos' conversation, or rather, Undyne yelling, the kids had had a good time with nothing worrisome of note happening. That was a relief, he'd expected the ol' doc to try something nefarious. So it was good he didn't have to confront his dear 'dad' about that, but as usual, he wasn't lucky enough to be able to do nothing. The moment he'd left the kids in Sydna's care and he was far enough away, he stopped.

"So you gonna keep creepin' around or are you going to come out and talk to me face to face?"

"Why must you always speak to me in that tone?" Gaster tsked, shaking his head. "You always act like I'm doing something unsavory."

"Because you are always doing something unsavory," Sans snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Stalking kids? That falls under 'unsavory', also creepy, weird, inappropriate, etc."

"Oh come now, Sans, you're just as interested as I am," Gaster chortled, leisurely strolling ahead of him. "A human-monster hybrid! Such a being has never existed. We know how powerful a monster is when it takes a human soul, so it's only natural the boy is watched. True, he's yet to exhibit any unique power, but surely it's only a matter of time, no?"

San's eyes flickered blue, his grin somehow growing more ominous.

"And you'd think it's only natural that a couple of freaks like us would know what it feels like to be gawked over, huh?" Sans spat. "He ain't a labrat, he's a kid."

"Labrat?" Gaster pouted. "You have such a low opinion of me, Sans… Of course he's a child, that's why I've left him where he is. I'll have you know I directly asked him to let me study him, but well, he doesn't seem to grasp the idea yet. Perhaps, when he's older, I can convince him to work with me."

"You threaten that kid and I'll dust you, you b-"

"Why threaten when I can simply ask, like a civilized person?"Gaster rolled his 'eyes'. "No no, when he's old enough to understand, I'll simply approach him and see if he's willing to cooperate. I'm sure he'll agree, if I just explain how study of his unique soul could benefit all of monsterkind."

"Howzat?" Sans eyed him.

"Why, to break the barrier of course. What other reason could there be?"

"I wonder."

Gaster shook his head, strolling on ahead into the dark tunnels of Waterfall.

"Always so paranoid. I suppose I understand, Sans, but my intentions are only for the good of all monsterkind. Including the little hybrid."

And he disappeared into the shadows.

Sans growled under his breath, warping away from the scene and onto his sofa.

"Crazy bastard…" he murmured.

Now, honestly, it wasn't even that Sans disliked Gaster. It was just Gaster had a way of…having good intentions and not completely thinking about consequences. From what he knew the man never meant to hurt or frighten anyone, he just had a talent for doing exactly that in the process of whatever benign goal he had in mind. So he was fairly confident that the doc didn't mean the little halfie any harm, but that didn't mean harm wouldn't befall him, if left unchecked…

He'd just have to keep an eyesocket on him.


	4. Chapter 4

**More Sans. I'm starting to see a trend.**

"Mom, mom!"

"Hm?" Toriel looked over at her child.

Kratos' paws patted against the kitchen tiles, his long ears flapping about as he rushed up to his mother with his claws outstretched.

"Mom, look what I did!"

Toriel's eyes widened; in her son's outstretched paws flickered a flame. A wide grin of pride shown on his face and Toriel mimicked it, clasping her hands together.

"Oh! Kratos! You can use magic!" she beamed, kneeling down to his level. "I'm so proud of you!"

"I just kept trying and trying and Papyrus showed me he can make bones and stuff so I figured since you can use fire I could too so I just kept trying and-"

"Now calm down," Toriel giggled. "You're going to make yourself lightheaded if you don't remember to breathe."

"Oh- but, but yeah, I did it!" he grinned. "I'm just like you!"

"Yes, you did a good job!" she grinned back, patting his head. "I suppose I'll start giving you magic lessons, then."

"Oh! Can we start now, Mom?! Can we, can we?!"

"Not now, dear," Toriel straightened. "I am cooking dinner, but tomorrow we'll add it to your usual studies, hm?"

Kratos ran off, excitedly yelling about how he couldn't wait to show Papyrus and Undyne.

Toriel mused to herself as she continued cooking, humming a little. He was growing up so fast, his horns were even beginning to grow. They were just bumps under his fluffy hair at present, but the onset of adolescence was close. Oh dear, she hoped that she would be able to handle that… Then again, if she was right then soon he wouldn't be the only child she had to think about. Soon she'd know for sure; oh Kratos and Asgore would be so excited! Kratos would be a big brother and Asgore would have an heir. It distressed her to know that she would be bringing into the world another child who would live without ever seeing the sun, but…no, she had to be positive. For everyone's sake.

Meanwhile, Kratos showed off his fire magic to his friends, who seemed just as if not more excited about it than he was. Undyne demonstrated her delight by breaking a rock over her head and Papyrus was running around in circles. Despite being the youngest in their group, Kratos was by far the calmest. Though he didn't mind, they did enough talking for him and themselves. They had quite a blast, so much so that the day passed before he realized it. Saying a quick goodbye to his friends, he made his way through the dark tunnels of waterfall.

He was in such a hurry he didn't notice that he was being followed. He made his way to the tunnel where the riverperson usually had their boat, only to find it empty. Well, that wasn't uncommon, he would just wait. They always came by around this time of day. The young hybrid sat on the edge of the water and watched it flow by, heedless to the shadows encroaching on him. He turned to see three strangers surrounding him, blocking the tunnel out.

"Nothing personal, kid," the lead said.

Kratos' eyes widened in horror as sharp claws swiped for his throat. He threw up his arms and shut his eyes tight, bracing himself for a blow that never came. He heard a strangled gasp and several expletives, then the sound of someone slamming into the stone wall.

"Wh-?" he opened his eyes, shocked.

The fourth figure that had appeared was small, but had a commanding presence. One eye burned bright blue and the familiar grin was far more sinister than he had ever seen it.

"That, however, was personal, yeah?" he mused to himself.

"What the-!?"

"Stay out of our way-! AUGH!"

The speaker was slammed up against the ceiling, a myriad of bones shooting up through the would-be attacker and pinning him into the rock. The monster yowled in pain but Kratos' rescuer was focused on the last remaining threat.

"So, lemme askyou something…."

The eye flashed again.

"You wanna have a bad time?"

The last attacker fled back down the tunnel and Sans abruptly had Kratos' arm.

"Let's go kid."

Then in the next instant, they were in the garden of his home.

"W- wha-? How did-?" Kratos stammered, staring at Sans in shock.

"Not important. Do me a favor and don't tell anyone I did that, m'kay?" Sans shrugged. "It'd ruin my whole 'lazy frail' reputation."

"I-"

"Don't worry about them, they'll wake up in some cells later." Sans said, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading for the door. "Even the one that ran. You won't have to worry about them again."

Sans warped away before he could get interrogated. After dropping the attempted assassins off to Sydna as well as a very half-assed report of the situation, he warped back to his chair in his station, sighing. The longer they were down here the more frequent these attacks were going to become. With or without the king and queen's protection, desperate monsters would do anything to get their hands on a human soul. Even one that was only half, apparently. Would it even work? Who knew? Well it didn't matter because no one was going to get that far.

Though even with his uh, 'prowess' of being where he needed to be, he couldn't always be with him. Maybe they'd assign a bodyguard from now on, but…was there anyone they could really trust that much? Sydna maybe, she was loyal to the queen with all her being, but she was the captain of the guard, she was busy enough. Even then...no, the kid would have to learn to defend himself eventually. Maybe he could manage to sneak him into training with Undyne and her mother… He was fairly convinced he could manage something like that, he had even planned out what to say to convince the kid of it. What he didn't expect, however, was when he ran into the kid again-

"Sans!" Kratos clenched his fluffy paws, a determined look on his face. "Teach me how to fight!"

"Er- what?" Sans blinked. "Kid-"

"Undyne is learning to fight, I want to learn to fight, too!" Kratos said. "I don't want you to have to save me again!"

"Kid, look, I agree you should learn some self-defense but I'm not the guy for the job, okay?" Sans rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe you and Undyne could both learn from her mom and stuff-"

"No! Because then she'll tell mom, and mom will worry about it!" Kratos huffed.

Sans sighed.

"Kid, your mom probably already knows all about it. Sydna doesn't keep secrets from her."

Kratos looked slightly startled by the news but bit his lip, glancing aside.

"…I still want you to teach me."

"Why? Kid-"

"Because I want to be cool, like you!"

Sans stared at him like he expected him to realize the error of that statement, but didn't get that. Instead he only got an awkward silence where Kratos locked him with the starstruck look of a child in awe of their perceived superior.

"…Kid, I ain't 'cool'," Sans sighed, scratching the side of his skull. "I'm not the teachin' type either, so-"

He cut off, seeing the boy's expression slide into one of heartbreak.

Well, crap.

"Fine."

He was going to regret this, he just knew it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Dang it Sans stop taking all the screentime**

 **I own nothing etc**

"Well? You gonna do something or am I gonna take another nap?"

Kratos frowned, gripping the hilt of the practice sword tightly in his paws. Sans had one hand in his pocket, the other lazily gripping another practice sword he held loosely at his side. It was beyond frustrating, Sans was meticulous about correcting Kratos' stance but did little more than just stand there himself. The skeleton had informed him that he barely even used swords, but didn't quite know how else to begin teaching him, given his lack of magic ability as of yet.

But the man hadn't even used the dang thing! He just dodged side to side, every now and then he'd block something but most of the time when he raised the 'blade' it was just to place it casually at Kratos' neck and to claim he 'lost'. It was beyond frustrating. Kratos forced himself to take a breath to calm himself, then charged.

Sans did what he usually did: barely anything. Somehow he dodged every movement without paying much- if any- attention. Kratos grit his teeth and-

Sans kicked him in the stomach.

"Oof-!" he hit the ground, groaning.

"Told you about that temper of yours, kid." Sans said.

"N- No fair!" Kratos snapped, pushing himself up from the dirt. "You said we were only using swords!"

"See, the thing about that, kid?"

Sans lazily hefted the practice sword in his bony palm, then in the time it took Kratos to blink, the end of it was at his jugular. Sans' grin widened, his eye flickering blue.

"An assassin ain't gonna tell ya how they're going to you."

Kratos tensed up, staring at Sans and gripping his claws into the dirt, a bead of sweat slicked down his cheek. Sans rose a brow and then shrugged, withdrawing.

"Relax, kid, it's not like it's a real sword. Well, let's take it from the top, eh?"

Kratos sighed and got to his feet, brushing himself off. These lessons were frustrating, but lessons with his mother were just as bad, just for a different reason….

"Oh dear!"

"I'VE GOT IT!"

Kratos sputtered as a bucket of water was dumped on his head, plastering his bangs to his face. His mother's claws gently brushed his bangs away, a tiny smile on her face.

"It is all right, my child, everyone has problems learning magic at first."

"Yeah, especially when they've got strong magic," Sydna said casually, walking over to the spout to refill the bucket. "Chin up, it means you'll be pretty tough once you get the hang of it."

Kratos sighed, plopping down on the ground and glaring at his now-soaked paws. If with swords he had no talent, with magic he had too much. He didn't think that could be a problem, but he was learning a lot of things lately. The first lesson mother had given him, he had nearly burnt their entire house to the ground! She had just asked him to make a fireball between his paws, something that was supposed to be basic magic. He had made the fireball all right….but then it grew out of control and engulfed the whole room in fire.

Luckily, mother had the foresight to make fire-related precautions, so the damage wasn't too bad, but it had definitely been a surprise. His mother had shielded them both from his wayward spell with a defensive spell of her own. No one was hurt, which was the important thing (so she said), but she had stared at him as if he had grown another head.

"If I've got strong magic, shouldn't that mean I'm good at it?!" Kratos huffed, more mad at himself than anything. "You keep saying that but-"

"Now, Kratos, calm down," Toriel knelt down to look at him, her head tilted as she viewed him. "As the captain said, you are strong, you just have to learn to control it."

"Oh yeah, I mean, dang kid you definitely got power," Sydna said casually as she sat down by them. "I know grown monsters that can't muster that kind of raw energy. Since you're a kid still, of course you're going to have a hard time controlling it, most kids have problems controlling half that!"

Kratos bit his lip, frowning. Toriel dropped a fluffy towel on his head and began drying his hair, humming chipperly.

"Ah-! Mom!" he pouted, his cheeks turning pink.

"I do not want you getting a cold, my child," she said simply. "Hold still."

Kratos did as he was told, quietly sitting there as his mother dried him. He remained silent even after she had finished and rose to her feet.

"Are you ready to try again, Kratos?"

The boy said nothing. Toriel frowned, glancing at Sydna and then back at her son.

"Kratos-?"

"Is it because I'm part human?"

Toriel flinched, wine eyes widening as Sydna began to frown.

"I- Is what, my child?" Toriel asked.

"Is my magic really weird because I'm part human? A monster with a human soul is supposed to be really strong, right? Is that why I'm really strong but I can't control it?"

"Kratos…"

"What if I can't?" he trembled. "What if since I'm only half monster I won't be able to control human powered magic? Or what if-"

"We do not know anything that suggests that, Kratos." Toriel scooped him up, stroking his hair to comfort him. "I am certain with practice you will be able to control your magic. It just takes time."

Kratos sniffled, burying his face into the purple fabric of her gown and shutting his eyes tight.

"Momma…." He whimpered. "What if I'm never good at anything? What if I'm not monster enough to do monster things or- or not human enough to even do human things? What if I can't do anything?"

"That is nonsense, Kratos!" Toriel held him closer, hushing him. "You are a smart, strong, young man, and you will do great at anything you set your mind to, I know so."

"But-"

"Shh, I know so."

Kratos sniffled but nodded, allowing his mother to play with his hair. It was relaxing, until suddenly it hurt.

"Ow-" He winced, pulling back from her.

"Hm-? Oh, dear, I am so sorry. I accidentally touched one of your horns…"

The boy blinked, staring up at her.

"I- I'm growing horns?"

"Oh-? You did not notice?" Toriel chuckled, smiling at him. "Why yes, I have horns, so it is not strange, is it?"

Kratos stared at her, his eyes widening and gaining a definite sparkle to them.

"I'm going to have horns?! That's so cool! Oh my gosh I can't wait to tell Papyrus and Undyne!"

"Er, well," a voice said. "You won't have to tell me, I've been here since the 'what if I can't control it' thing, eh heh…"

Kratos froze, slowly turning to look past his mother at Sydna and- now by her side- Undyne. The boy stared at her, his face burning red in embarrassment.

"U- Undyne-?! M- Mom! Put me down! I'm not a baby! Put me down!"

Toriel conceded but couldn't help but laugh to herself as her son desperately tried to salvage the situation. Undyne, luckily, did not seem to be holding his crying episode against him, but the teasing grin she gave in response to Kratos' excuses was likely to stay a while.


	6. Chapter 6

**(cracks fingers) Okiedokie, time to get into some of the …heheh, bones of this**

Kratos peered over the edge of the crib, his russet eyes locked on the tiny, furry infant. His tail wiggled a bit, content to simply watch his baby brother sleep. A baby brother! His baby brother! He hoped he would be a good big brother, Papyrus had offered to give him 'awesome brotherly advice', but Papyrus was the younger brother. Big brothers were different, right? Maybe he'd ask Sans then. Mom said that big brothers looked out for their little brothers and sisters, and protected them, and taught them. That seemed like such a big job, would he be able to pull it off?

He slipped one claw into the baby's paw, watching the tiny digits curl around his own.

"I'll take care of you, I promise." He smiled.

"Will you, now?"

The boy froze in place, stiff at the sound of the voice behind him.

"You're a big brother now, hm? Such a big responsibility, though I can already see you're willing to do anything for him, aren't you?"

Kratos turned, back against the crib and staring up at the royal scientist.

"Now calm down, boy, I only want to talk." Gaster chuckled. "But I'm right, aren't I? You'd do anything for your little brother."

"I- go away," Kratos glared, attempting to look scary. "I don't want to talk to you."

"You know, it's sad, little Asriel is going to grow up underground, never seeing the sun, being trapped…just like you have. Such a shame."

Kratos hesitated, unsure what the man was getting at.

"Oh, but you could help get him outside, couldn't you? Not just him, of course, but all monsters." Gaster's smile stretched. "You could free us all, you could be a hero."

"A- a hero-?" Kratos frowned, his head sinking into his shoulders.

"Wouldn't you like that, Kratos? Everyone would be grateful to you, no one would try and take your soul anymore-"

"Because you'd take it!" Kratos snapped, glaring. "That's what you want, isn't it?! You-"

"Shhhh…."

Kratos went to continue when a floating hand wrapped around his mouth, silencing him.

"You'll wake the baby, Kratos, and no, I don't want to take your soul. I won't force you to do anything, even, I'm just going to ask you, how far are you willing to go to make sure your baby brother is happy, hm?" Gaster bent at the waist, eyelevel with the frightened boy. "All you have to do is let me do some experiments on you, and then we can break the barrier. Then your little brother, your mother, everyone can be happy, you do want that, don't you?"

Kratos stared at him, even paler than he usually was. His eyes darted around, his brow furrowed. It was clear despite his hesitation, he was considering it, he just needed one more push-

"Heya, doc, why don't you do us all a favor and get lost?"

Gaster sighed, straightening and releasing his hold on Kratos.

"S- Sans-" the boy stammered.

"Really, Sans, I'm in the middle of something."

The shorter skeleton's eye flickered blue, his grin growing.

"And now you and I are in the middle of something, now aren't we?"

"Hmph…I don't have time for you, I have work to do."

Gaster abruptly disappeared.

"Oh no you don't you son of a-"

And Sans did too; Kratos was left trembling against the side of the crib, where Asriel had begun to whimper in his sleep.

* * *

Gaster leisurely went about his work on the console, the hum of the core below him overlaying the tap of bony phalanges on the keyboard. He didn't seem concerned about much, even when Sans appeared behind him on the catwalk, his eye blazing blue. The doctor could sense the magic upwelling without turning to look, but still did not seem to phased much either way.

"You're going to insist on dragging this out, Sans?" he tsked, not looking up from his work.

"This is your last warning." Sans snapped. "Leave'im alone."

Gaster replied with a dark chuckle.

"My, Sans, you certainly care for that boy, don't you?"

"Did you hear me? If I ever see you near the kid again, I'll-" Sans began, bristling.

"Oh? You're going to make this difficult, Sans? Pity, I had hoped it wouldn't come to this but..." Gaster finally turned, his smile stretching up the sides of his face. "If you're going to get in my way, perhaps the boy'd like to know why you care so much about him, hm? Him and his mother, perhaps?"

Sans twitched, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't know what-"

"I'm not a fool, Sans, do you think your dear father wouldn't find out?" Gaster tsked.

"You ain't my dad, 'pops'," Sans snarled in response.

"How ungrateful," Gaster pouted. "I gave you another chance at life- "

"You didn't 'give me life', you took my death." He snapped.

"Well however you view it, it doesn't matter. If you cause me problems I might have to let your little relations slip, hm?" Gaster tilted his head, his expression nearly pleasant.

Sans flinched, his eye flaring up again.

"No one would believe you."

"Oh, Sans!" Gaster laughed. "I think they'd be inclined to when I point out one glaring fact..."

He lifted a single bony finger before his skull, waving it to and fro.

"Monster's don't have skeletons."

"You'd out yourself too!" Sans snapped. "You're bluffing!"

"What is there to out? We're both monsters now, aren't we?" Gaster replied chipperly.

"What do you gain from telling them that? Huh? What's the point?!"

"Nothing, really, but it would do a lot of good elsewhere, don't you think? I'm sure the boy would like to know, not to mention the queen…"

"She's happy. They're happy, leave them out of this." Sans glared but desperation was leaking into his would-be threat, making it come out more as a plea.

"Then that's what they'd lose, Sans. 'Happiness' and peace of mind. You wouldn't want to put them through that, would you? On top of everything else you put them through."

Sans froze, his eyesockets going dark.

"So do them a favor and don't interfere, hm?" Gaster turned back to his work. "Besides, I'll make sure the experiments are painless...relatively."

* * *

Kratos tried to gather up his courage. Mom would doubtless take this news to heart and make his life even more stifling with security measures, but what else could he do? If Gaster kept doing this, especially now that Asriel was around, it was only a matter of time before the crazy man did something to hurt the baby, or him. He knew, on some level, he should have told his mother years ago, but- no, no more time for buts. He was going to go in, tell his mother about Gaster, and-

He froze, his claws right above the doorknob.

W- wait…what was he…just doing? No no, it was important, he had to tell his mother about-…about…someone. There was someone- doing…something, maybe, wait- what? He was sure there was someone he had to tell her about, but he couldn't remember who it even was anymore.

"Hey, kid."

Kratos jumped a bit, then sighed in relief when he saw the short skeleton.

"O- oh, Sans, it's just you."

"Yeah, look, just letting you know you don't have to worry about Gaster bugging you anymore."

Kratos stared at him.

"…Kid?"

"Who's…Gaster?"

Sans said nothing.


	7. Chapter 7

**Don't own anything etc. Glad the last chapter went over well, I was worried about it, but I liked writing it a good deal.**

"Sans? You're staring at me again…."

"Oh, sorry, kid, got a lot on my mind."

Kratos rose a brow, a frown plastered on his face. The boy eyed him and Sans couldn't help but notice how the russet eyes mimicked his mother's. He was looking a lot more like his mother as of late. Now that his horns had crested over his mess of hair, and- well, it was silly, really. The kid looked more human than monster, so really he shouldn't have been seeing so much of Kratos' mother as much as-

"You're staring again."

Sans shook his head, sighing.

"Look, kid, maybe- maybe that's enough for today. I'm tired."

"You're always tired," Kratos huffed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just a bit under the weather, no biggie." Sans casually began to stroll away.

Kratos had gotten taller than him, which wasn't exactly a huge accomplishment. He was a short man, the kid probably was getting all the height from his mother.

"Sans! Why do you keep avoiding me?!"

Sans stopped, sighing.

"Kid, I'm not avoiding you-"

"Yes you are!" Kratos snapped. "It's been forever since I last saw you and now that we've finally gotten together for some more training, you barely show up and then want to leave!"

"Kid-"

"What did I do?! Are you mad at me?!"

"Wh-?" Sans turned, blinking. "What, kid, no. You didn't do anything."

"Then why are you trying to get away from me?!" he snapped. "You've been so weird lately!"

Sans hesitated, frowned in his odd way of furrowing his brow but still grinning, then sighed.

"I'm sorry, kid. I just have a lot on my mind lately, it's nothing you did. I didn't mean to make you feel like I was mad at you or anything. So, I'm sorry, okay? I just…I just have some things I gotta work through."

Kratos frowned but seemed to relax a bit, his expression somber.

"Okay, sorry for yelling. I just-…"

"Nah, kid, don't apologize. Look, we'll make up for all the time we've lost, okay? I promise. Just…just, later."

Kratos slowly nodded, then quietly began to gather his things.

Sans walked with the boy through the underground, strolling along casually with his hands in his pockets. Kratos had relaxed a bit and had begun to talk about assorted things, as he usually did. Things he did with Papyrus and Undyne, mainly, with a little bit of how his magic training was going. Then of course, Asriel. Kratos was very enthusiastic about his baby brother, but Sans could understand that. Papyrus was one of his very few sources of joy, after all. If Gaster had done anything good with his time, he had at least brought Papyrus into being…somehow. Sans knew very well how he himself had gotten ….here, but the details about Papyrus still eluded him. He didn't know if he wanted to know. It didn't matter, though, Pap was here and he was going to protect him. He'd do right by at least one member of his family.

"Mom says I've gotten a lot better with my magic! I mean, I still need to focus on control but I don't set anything on fire on accident anymore, so that's good, right?"

"I'd say so," Sans chuckles.

"I hope by the time Asriel is learning magic I'm good enough to help him."

"I'm sure you will be, kid," Sans winked. "You're a quick learner."

The kid seemed pleased with the compliment, so all in all it ended on a rather good note.

* * *

"Mom?"

"Yes, Kratos?" Toriel asked as she rocked Asriel.

"…What was my dad like?"

She stopped rocking. Just for a second, then she continued lulling the baby to sleep.

"Well…" she sighed. "Oh dear, I always knew this would come eventually…."

"Is it…bad?" Kratos frowned, fiddling with his ear.

"What? Oh dear, not at all." Toriel smiled gently. "It is just-….difficult to talk about, sometimes, but you have a right to know."

Toriel patted her lap, indicating for him to sit. Kratos pouted, his face flushed.

"Mom, I'm not going to sit on your lap, I'm not a little kid anymore."

"Oh? I do suppose you are right…well, sit where you wish then, or whatever you are comfortable with."

Kratos hesitated and sat beside her, looking up at both furry monsters. Toriel smiled gently down at him, her eyes misting over in memories.

"Well, he was a cunning man. I found him wounded, during the war…I took him to some of my friends that helped nurse him back to health…" she chuckled. "He was quite an amusing person. Very funny, a bit sarcastic, not particularly uhm…booksmart, but clever in his own way."

"Booksmart?" Kratos tilted his head.

"Well back then only wealthy humans were educated, I don't know how it is now, of course, but that's how it was before you were born." Toriel explained. "So he couldn't read or write, but he was still smart. A good sense of humor is usually a sign of intelligence, you know."

"I know, Mom, you've told me," Kratos smiled weakly.

She smiled at him, then looked off into space.

"He was handsome, though it took me a little bit to realize that for a human he was handsome," she giggled behind a paw. "He was very fast too, and he was always smiling, despite how things got. Heh, he was smiling right until the en-….anyway, despite being a soldier, he was very kind-hearted, though he would deny it…"

Kratos fidgeted with his ear, frowning.

"Do you…do you think he would've liked me?"

"Oh, Kratos, of course he would have loved you!" Toriel patted his head lightly. "He would have been very proud of you."

"Do I look like him?"

Toriel chuckled, looking back at Asriel.

"Well…yes. Though he was darker, and his eyes were blue. I suppose you took after me in terms of coloration…but you do look like him. The shape of your nose, and your chin-…"

"…Mom?"

"I am sorry, my child, but that is enough for now. I will tell you more some other time, all right?" she glanced at him, smiling weakly.

He caught the glimmer of tears forming in her eyes and did not press her any further, settling for sitting there as she rocked Asriel back and forth. She began to hum her lullaby to the baby and Kratos closed his eyes, enjoying his mother's melody.


	8. Chapter 8

**Time for cuteness! Before feels, anyway…**

"Faster, faster!"

Tiny white paws patted the top of his head, the young man grinning as he ran about the underground. He skidded to a halt as they came close to the entrance to Waterfall's village, then resumed at a leisurely trot.

"Kratos! Why did you slow down?!" whined the young boss monster from atop his shoulders.

"We can't run through the towns, Asriel, we might run into someone," Kratos explained patiently, smiling as he walked.

"But I wanna go fast!" his little brother whimpered.

"I know, but we can't- ow!"

Kratos winced; his young brother had grasped the half-human's horns tightly in his little white paws and tugged them back, craning Kratos neck.

"But I wanna!"

"Asriel!" the teenager scowled, moving his head forward with a jerk. "Don't do that! It hurts! And I said no, Mother doesn't want us to run around and cause problems for people."

The young prince pouted but said nothing, contenting himself with the leisurely ride through the village. Kratos sighed but said nothing more. Asriel could be a little bit spoiled sometimes, but he was a good kid. He had just turned five, it was so strange to see his baby brother growing up so fast. It was nice, though, at the same time.

Everyone in the underground seemed to feel the same way, actually. They all seemed delighted to see or hear anything of the young prince, and they seemed much happier than they had before. Hell, since Asriel had been born there had even been fewer attempts on his half-human soul. Still a few, sadly, but they were never anywhere near Asriel- monsters even seemed to be friendly to him if he was out with Asriel. It wasn't for his sake, he knew, but it was still a pleasant change. Though it could be that the assassination attempts had dwindled because he, too, had grown…

"Kratos, Kratos!" Asriel patted his head to get his attention. "Are your friends going to let me play with you, too?"

"We don't really 'play', we're too big for that, but you can hang out with us." Kratos chuckled.

"Is 'hang out' like a big kid version of 'play'?" Asriel asked.

"…Perhaps? I'm not quite sure."

"Okay. So are we almost there?"

"Yes, Asriel, I'm sure we'll be running into them soon-"

"HEYA PUNK!"

"And there they are."

"HELLO KRATOS! HELLO KRATOS' BROTHER!"

"Pap, I told you a million times, that's Prince Asriel."

"HELLO PRINCE KRATOS' BROTHER!"

Kratos couldn't help but smirk a bit as Asriel giggled. Undyne and Papyrus had met them shortly before Undyne's house, the aspiring royal guard and skeleton were very happy to see their humanoid friend.

"Asriel wanted to come with me today, is that all right? He gets bored being cooped up in the castle all the time." Kratos said.

"OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE HIM UNBORED!"

"Yeah, well, usually we don't do much that's fun for kids…" Undyne frowned. "But I'm sure we can think of something!"

"INDEED! I KNOW! LET US FINGERPAINT! OR MAKE MACARONI ART! CHILDREN LIKE THOSE THINGS!"

"Ooooh!" Asriel voiced his approval. "That's fun! C'mon, Kratos, make art with me!"

He chuckled a bit.

"All right, all right…"

"And I can tell you embarrassing stories about Kratos while we do that!" Undyne declared.

"Wh- Undyne, no-"

"Yay!"

"Asriel!"

"So yeah, here's one, when you were like, even littler Kratos' voice used to crack like ALL the time! Like it'd sound soooo funny, he'd just be talking and then he'd just squeak or make some weird sound, sometimes he'd bleat-"

"Undyne! That's enough!" Kratos scowled, his cheeks red.

"Aw, come on, bud!" Undyne laughed, hands on her hips. "You don't do that anymore, and your voice is super cool now, so what's the big deal?"

"Kratos bleats when he gets shy and when you poke him in the side!" Asriel grinned.

Kratos froze.

"Reaaaallllly? You ticklish there, Kratos?" Undyne grinned widely, showing off an impressive array of fangs.

"Undyne don't you even think about it!"

"POKE!" Papyrus shouted, jabbing Kratos in the side.

Kratos let out a very unflattering cross between a yelp and a goat-y bleat. Papyrus and Undyne found it very amusing.

* * *

Toriel sighed, sifting through the papers she and Asgore were currently working on. The longer they were down here, the more difficult it was becoming, but so far they had managed to find solutions to every problem they had been encountered with. The biggest one, of course, was the barrier. They had scientists working on it of course, but strangely, ever since the core had been completed a lot of the progress they had been making on the barrier had just…stopped. None of the researchers seemed to know why, and whenever they attempted to pry into the cause things just went…nowhere. It was very strange, and disconcerting. Though on top of all that, there were still personal problems that became more and more pressing for her…

"Gorey?"

"Yes, Tori?" Asgore asked, looking up from his side of the table.

"…Dear, I would like to speak to you about Kratos for a moment."

Asgore frowned, slowly setting down the papers and setting his attention on his queen.

"Is something wrong, darling?"

"Well…" Toriel sighed, bringing a paw to her snout. "I worry for him- I mean, obviously I worry for him, with all the- incidents. However, I worry about more than that. He is nearly an adult, he has had schooling but I worry what he will do with himself."

"Tori, dear, you needn't worry," Asgore put a paw on her paw. "Kratos is part of our family, I would never make him leave or force him to fend for himself-"

"I know that, Gorey, that is not what I am worried about." Toriel's brow furrowed. "I know he will always have a home with us, but- what is he to do? He may not know what it is he wants to do yet, but he does want to do something. He talks about Sydna's daughter planning to join the guard, about how Asriel is going to become king someday, but…what can he do? What will he be? I would never be able to rest easy if he did something as dangerous as the guard, I suppose he could continue schooling if he wished to and become a scholar, or a scientist, but-…."

She fell quiet and they both succumbed to silence for a moment or two. Asgore shifted a bit, frowning, then sighed.

"You are worried if the monsters of the underground will accept him into such things?"

"…Yes," Toriel sighed, her eyes closed. "Things have gotten better for him, I am very happy about that, but- I just- I worry so much."

"I understand, Tori." Asgore frowned. "But please, try not to worry. We shall talk to Kratos and see what he wants to do, then we'll take the next step from there. I am sure we will be able to get him into whatever career he sets his mind to."

Toriel smiled weakly, leaning forward and nuzzling her snout against his.

"Thank you, Gorey, I- I am sure you are right. Things will work out."

 **Spoiler alert: Things don't work out. I'm sure you saw that coming though, not really a spoiler.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Enter Chara:**

The first time he saw a human was probably one of the most important days of his life. Looking back, even, he was sure if he had never seen them, he never would have left the underground at all. Asriel coming into their home, supporting the human child barely the same size as he was. Kratos stared from the background as Toriel greeted the child, amiably welcoming them into their home and checking them for injuries. Asgore was, to his surprise, equally friendly. Why that surprised him, at the time he really couldn't say. After all, Asgore had always been kind to him, but- no that was another matter.

Life became strange after Chara came into their lives. The child was quiet, but something about them was tense between them. If he recalled correctly, the girl didn't even speak to him until about the second month she lived with them.

He had been attending to his usual chores, cleaning up the courtyard. That was when he felt the eyes on him, and slowly he directed his attention behind him. Her eyes were red, like his, locked onto him. He forced a small smile.

"Hello, Chara, can I help you?"

There was a second of silence, maybe two, when the kid spoke.

"What are you?"

Kratos' smile faltered a moment but he reclaimed it.

"I'm Kratos. You know who I am-"

"No. That's not what I mean. What are you?" she scowled. "You're…human, but…"

She bit her lip, her brow furrowed.

"I'm half-human, yes, but Toriel is my mother. Just like she's yours," he said, turning to face her.

"There aren't any humans down here, and she's married to Asgore!" she snapped, her tiny fists clenched at her sides. "You're lying to me! I bet those ears are fake!"

Kratos blinked, unsure how to respond. He thought for a moment, then walked over to her, kneeling down to her level.

"Go ahead, see?" he tugged one ear. "They're attached."

Chara eyed him a moment, then grabbed his ear roughly and yanked it. Kratos winced, biting down a curse as the child's eyes widened.

"They are real…so you're a monster and a human?" Chara blinked, stunned.

"Yeah," Kratos rubbed his ear, looking at her. "Toriel is my mother, but my father died a long time ago."

"So you're half-human…"

She frowned, then crossed her arms.

"You're lucky."

"Hm?" He frowned.

"You get to be only half." The child muttered darkly.

"Huh?" he tilted his head, eying her.

"Humans are horrible." Chara snapped, her tone ice and her gaze fire. "I wish I wasn't one."

"I'm sure that's not true," he said. "You're not horrible, and my mother never would've loved someone horrible, so the human she loved must have been good too."

"You don't know that." She glared. "About him or me."

"I suppose I don't, but I don't think you're bad, Chara." Kratos got to his feet finally, looking at her. "I see you play with Asriel, and you like to listen to Mother's stories. You get along with Asgore, too. So I know you're not horrible, perhaps not personally, but I'd like to get to know you if you'd let me."

Chara said nothing a moment, then huffed, looking away.

"Humans would hate you."

Kratos felt a chill up his spine but forced a casual reply.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"They hate half-breeds." She hissed. "I had a half-elf friend, he was the only one who was ever nice to me, and they killed him because he was a half-breed."

Kratos stared at her, his blood running cold at the flat delivery of the cruel news.

"So they'd hate you. Elves aren't much better than humans, but they're more like them, and they still hate them. They'd probably kill you just like they killed my friend."

He was at a loss how to respond to something like that. Still, he had to say something, right? What would Mother do?

Kratos took a breathe and forced a kind smile, kneeling back down to her eye level.

"I'm-" the smile fell. "I'm sorry that happened, Chara. But I still don't think all humans are horrible…"

He hesitated, glancing around then back at her.

"I'll tell you a secret, but you have to promise not to tell Asriel."

Chara rose a brow, seeming to consider this a moment before she nodded.

"Monsters have tried to kill me because I'm a half-breed, too," he admitted, his brow furrowed. "But even so, I've met several monsters who are my friends, that care about me. So not all monsters are horrible, that must be the same with humans."

The girl didn't seem convinced, but Kratos gently placed a hand on her hair, ruffling it slightly.

"And I know I'm right. You're not horrible."

"Humans still are," she snapped.

She pulled away from him, walking back the way she came. Kratos debated whether or not he should say something to her when she stopped, her fists clenched at her sides.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Azzy. He's too nice, he'd probably cry. And remember you're only half-human, so I guess you can only be half-horrible, at most."

Kratos smiled weakly, tilting his head to the side.

"Was that a compliment, Chara?"

"Don't let it get to your big fluffy-head."

And then she left.

He learned a lot, since Chara came into his world. About humans, elves, half-elves, and the dynamics of the surface world. Not politics, like his mother would be interested in, but of how the surface-dwellers behaved, what they did, how they treated each other. Most of it was not very positive; Chara had clearly been through quite an ordeal, even if he never learned the details. Still, once they had finally talked, the couple years that Chara was with them had become the happiest in his memory. His mother loved her, Asriel loved her, even Asgore loved her. The most bittersweet memory he had, for the first century of his life, was the image of those four playing beside the fireplace. Asgore with Asriel and Chara hanging off him, laughing and smiling, his mother watching from her chair with a smile as warm as the flames; then Asriel and Chara, his little siblings, calling to him to come play…

He had been a fool to think it would last forever.


	10. Chapter 10

**Got a quick, extra-long chapter for you ;p a lot happens, hope you enjoy the feels-trip**

He stood alone at the barrier, staring numbly at it. His mother wept in the courtyard but he couldn't find the strength in himself to comfort her; besides, Asgore was with her, that had to be enough for now. So he stood, staring at the pulsating light, his expression blank.

This barrier, this stupid- this thing kept him trapped down here, kept him from following Asriel out to the surface, kept him from helping his baby brother when he was attacked by humans.

Why? Why all this? It was bad enough, wasn't it? That Chara had been taken from them, that there had been nothing they could do. But- Asriel- oh, Asriel! His sweet baby brother had tried to fulfill her last wish, had taken her body to the village…and that had killed him. Kratos couldn't stand to be in the courtyard, couldn't stand to see Asriel's dust on the ground and Chara's limp body. How- why did this happen? Why couldn't he have at least stopped Asriel? Why couldn't he have gone with him and protected him?

Well, he knew why.

His claws clenched at his side, glowering at the barrier before him. With a screech of frustration and pain he slammed his paw at the barrier-

And his paw passed right through it.

Kratos stared, his eyes wide in shock as he processed what he was seeing. He had intended to hit the barrier, but had truly not expected anything…at all. Yet, there it was, his paw so easily sticking right through the barrier. With a start he withdrew it, staring at it, then the barrier.

No- really? Was this some kind of joke? He grit his teeth and slipped his arm through it again, staring. He could pass through. He could pass through- this whole time? Why-…of course, you needed a human soul and a monster soul to pass through- and he was both. He was an idiot, an idiot! His teeth grit, tears streaming down his face. He could have gone after him! He could have followed Asriel and stopped him, or protected him! He could have stopped those humans from killing him- Chara had been right. Humans were horrible, they had abused her, had taken his brother, had trapped them down here…

An intense surge of hatred flooded him in his grief, his teeth bared. He hated them, he wanted to make them pay-

He could.

Yes…he could.

He didn't know what he was thinking- if anything he probably hadn't been thinking at all. He went back to the courtyard, only to find his mother and Asgore not present. She probably had to step away, like he had. Chara's body lay on the ground and without hesitation he scooped her up, holding her close to him. Then he turned on heel, back to the barrier, and slipped out of it without a sound.

It wasn't hard to find the village, it was near the base of the mountain. Looking back, he supposed normally he would have been baffled by the setting sun, the fresh air, the open space- but he had been too blinded by rage to take note of any of it. He found the flowers, the flowers Chara had wanted to see, and gently placed her body amongst them.

He fell to his knees, staring at her still form among the blossoms.

How long he sat there he was not sure, but the sun had begun to burn red as it slipped to the horizon. That was when he heard the rustling of plants behind him, and braced himself for what he had to do…

In the blink of an eye he turned, thrusting his sharp claws through the body of the newcomer. Blood spurted into the air, staining the flowers. It had been a child, he remembered, and he remembered the wide eyes right before the light of life fled them. They had dropped to the ground, another limp body on the meadow.

Blood stained his paws and he withdrew his claw, staring at the vibrant soul he now held inside it. He didn't know if he could absorb souls, but he was going to find out. He closed his eyes and pressed it to his chest.

Then a surge, like his rage, like his despair, but unlike anything he had felt. Power, burning, intense power flooded his being. Power enough, he knew, that he would be able to exact his revenge, power to make all of them pay for what they had did to his family.

He rose to his feet, then paused, just a moment.

Slowly he picked up the body of the human child and placed them near Chara, closing their wide eyes and folding their hands upon the hole in their chest. He paused and removed a flower, slipping it into their hands. For a moment, he hesitated, but it did not last long. He stood and turned toward the village as the red light of the dying sun bathed its rooftops.

And now…they would all pay.

* * *

A deafening shatter echoed through the underground, stunning all those within. Even so, Toriel ran for the barrier as soon as she recovered, Asgore trailing behind. She halted abruptly, her eyes widening in shock and horror. Her son walked calmly through the narrow hall, his face expressionless. He was taller, older, has claws and horns had become more pronounced, as well as his fangs. Those things were shocking enough, but there were two things far more worrisome. Fiery wings of every color shifted behind him, and blood was splattered over his form, soaking into his clothes and clinging to his fur.

"Kratos….?" Toriel whispered, bringing her paws to her mouth. "Kratos- what- what have you done?"

"What was necessary," her son responded flatly.

If her horror affected him at all, he showed no sign of it, his expression stoic and his eyes blank. Toriel began to tremble and shook her head, clutching her claws together.

"No- no! Kratos, what did you do?!" she cried, her already tear-reddened eyes welling up again. "Kratos-!"

"I put Chara in the flowers." He cut her off flatly. "I avenged Asriel. I broke the barrier."

"How many!?" Toriel stepped forward. "Kratos- how many did you- how many souls did you take?!"

"Enough."

"NO! Not even 'enough'! You- you killed them all, didn't you?!" she sobbed. "Kratos! Kratos…"

She ran forward and smacked him across the cheek; he didn't flinch, instead continued to stare blankly down at her. With a choking sob she clung to him, just barely shorter than he was now.

"Oh, Kratos," she sobbed. "What have you done? What have you done to yourself?"

"Everyone can leave now," he said, his eyes downcast. "It doesn't matter what I had to do to free them. Those humans won't hurt anyone again and monsters can return to the surface, I did what had to be done."

"Repeating it does not make you right!" Toriel shouted up at him, tears still spilling from her eyes.

"I did what Asriel and Chara wanted!" he finally raised his voice, snapping down at her. "I did what they tried to do, I made their last wish a reality! I slaughtered every single one of them that abused Chara and took Asriel from us! I will not say I was wrong! I will never apologize for that! Ever!"

The look on his mother's face was not one he could describe easily with flimsy words. Horror? Shock? Disgust? Despair? Shame? Pain? Anger? It didn't matter, he had made his choice, and there was no going back now. Let her hate him, he had finally done right for his family, for all monsters. He turned from her and walked back towards the light of day, his wings twitching open with his agitation. They would follow him inevitably, he knew, so there was no harm in leaving. With a rough beat of the flaming wings he took to the sky, and returned to where he had laid Chara's body.

He had barely settled down beside her when everything went cold. The still burning embers of the village should not have allowed for that, and the sun had risen a good hour or so ago. Thundering chimes of bells resounded through the area and he found himself unable to move.

"Kid...what the hell?"

He blinked, turning behind him to see his addressor. Sans stood there in the yellow flowers, frowning with his eyes, as he somehow did despite constantly grinning.

"…You got here fast," Kratos said simply, numb.

"The entire village? Seriously? All of them?" Sans' brow furrowed.

"All of them." He replied flatly.

For a moment they said nothing to each other, Kratos' blank eyes mirroring the darkened eye-sockets of his mentor. A chilled wind blew past them, ruffling Kratos' hair and the feathery lining of San's hood.

"I see." Sans said finally, his eyes closing. "There's nothing to it then, is there? So…"

His eyes opened again, one eye burning blue with magic.

"Then you will be judged."

"Then judge me." Kratos snapped, his eyes narrowing a bit. "Do what you must, I did what I had to, I won't begrudge you the same liberty."

"What you 'had' to? Kid, I can understand, but all of them? The kids? The elderly? The sick and weak?" Sans growled a bit, the magic around his eyes flaring. "That one who threw themselves over their baby brother and begged you not to hurt them?! This one, here?! This one meant something, didn't it?!"

He flung his hand to the side, to the child laying in the field, their arms crossed and eyes closed, a single flower placed on their folded hands.

"Didn't it?" Sans repeated. "That's why you hesitated, after this one! The first one, you hesitated, you could've stopped!"

"How do you even know all this?" Kratos snapped.

"Judgment, kid! Judgment!" the monster snarled back. "I'm MADE of it! I know what you've done, I can FEEL what you've done!"

"Then you know there's nothing left to discuss. What is it you want, Sans?" Kratos smirked bitterly, his eyes downcast at Chara's still form. "Are you going to kill me? Get rid of the abomination you helped create? Go ahead then, I won't fight you. I know that I may deserve it, but I did what was best for everyone-"

A deep, twisted chortle echoed from the skeleton, his hand rising up to cover the flaming blue eye. The magic still blazed through the holes in his phalanges, both eyes still fixated on Kratos.

"Did what was best for everyone, huh? Just not the humans, okay, y'know I can even understand that much, but 'the best'? Oh, kid, you have no idea what you've done, do you? You haven't helped, the monsters may be free but this is by far the 'best' for them. If anything, you've damned every single one of them."

"How so?" Kratos bristled, his wings twitching. "I freed them-"

"And how long 'till other humans find out what happened here? Until they see the destruction you caused? Until they realize you absorbed their souls like a kid shoving their face full of candy!" Sans threw a hand toward the village again. "Do you think they're going to stand for that?! No! They'll come, they'll fight, they'll try to dust each and every one of them! You've doomed all monsters, and humans will never forgive this! Humans will come, and they'll kill everyone."

"Then I'll kill them!" Kratos snarled, baring his fangs. "I'll protect the monsters, I'll wipe out every single human that comes to hurt them!"

"Do you even hear yourself, kid?!" Sans bellowed. "You'll wipe out an entire race?! They're your race too!"

"I don't- what do you care?!"

"Because they were my race, too!" Sans snapped. "Because I know what humans do when they're afraid, and I know what they can do to monsters! You're not just being foolish now, you're being plain stupid!"

"Your-?" the god frowned, his eyes widening slightly.

"Oh please! Kid, do monsters have bones?! Besides you?!"

Kratos stared at him, his breath caught in his throat. Sans didn't bother waiting to see his reaction.

"More than anyone, we both should be trying to help monsters and humans! Because we both are! What you've done hasn't helped anyone, you've done nothing but lead us straight into mutual obliteration!"

"What do you want me to do, then?!" Kratos shook his head, teeth gritted. "What can I do?! I can't take it back!"

Silence.

Then.

"Yeah, you can, actually."

"I-…what?" he stared at him.

"I dunno how many souls you have in there, kid, but I know it's more than enough." Sans said, suddenly looking incredibly tired. "Enough to break the barrier, enough to make you a 'god'…enough to manipulate time and space itself…"

Sans shoved his hands in his pockets, locking exhausted eyes on his pupil's.

"So manipulate it. Undo it. Reset."

"Re-…can I…do that?" Kratos whispered, looking back down at Chara.

"Not that far, not even as you are could you do that." Sans frowned. "But you could undo what you've done, at least….you can stop yourself from coming to this village, from leaving the underground."

"…It won't bring Asriel and Chara back," he said quietly.

"Neither did this, now did it?"

Kratos said nothing. Sans walked over to the slain child, staring down at them.

"How many other brothers and sisters did you take today, kid? If any of them survived, do you think any of them will feel any better than you do right now?"

Sans turned to meet Kratos' gaze again, half-slouched over.

"Can you feel your sins crawling down your back, Kratos?"

The skeleton turned from Kratos and the two childrens' bodies, then simply vanished.

* * *

He reappeared in Snowdin town, heading toward his home. Papyrus would be wondering what was going on, if he hadn't run off already-

Abruptly, he was laying in his bed from the night before. Sans blinked once or twice, then sighed, closing his eyes. He sensed it, still, it would never go away. The LV and EXP Kratos had acquired would forever linger on him, now…but at least he had done the right thing. He hoped.


	11. Chapter 11

**Down down down we go….though oddly, going up, by the end of this chapter**

Kratos sat wordlessly, staring out at the dark rivers of Waterfall. Sans sat next to him, eying the young man. The hybrid had barely told him anything, simply coming to find him and then asking if he could spend time with him. Sans casually drank from a bottle of ketchup, and that seemed to break the ice, oddly enough.

"Remember that one time you were teaching me to dodge?" Kratos said, not looking at him. "So you just pelted me with tomatoes?"

"Er, yeah," Sans chuckled slightly. "You weren't very good at it."

"I hate tomatoes now. I can't stand looking at them."

"So should I put the ketchup away?"

Kratos sighed, finally looking at the skeleton.

"Sans- I need to know-…did you used to be human?"

"Woah, kiddo, what kind of question is that? Where did that come from? I mean I know you're going through a lot but-"

"You told me you could see my sins. So you still see them, don't you? So you know what happened, don't you? Do you remember everything you told me or just…?"

Sans sighed, chugging the ketchup.

"You told me about resets, you know about them, right? So…"

"Kid I don't know-"

"I'm not stupid, Sans!" Kratos snapped, glaring at him. "You said you were human, the times match up, I remember how you'd look at mom-"

He cut off, his voice choking up. Sans looked at him but Kratos couldn't meet his eyes, his shoulders shaking.

"Please- I need to know, I- Asriel and Chara- humans- I just-" the russet eyes began to swell with tears, which he shut tightly. "I need to know if you hate me."

Sans frowned.

"What? Kid-"

"You know what I did! I know you do! And even before that- if you were, why didn't you say anything?! Why didn't you- why didn't you come back to Mom, why didn't-?"

He broke down into trembling sobs, bringing his paws up to grip at his head. Sans hesitated, the bags under his eyes seeming to deepen. The skeleton put away his bottle, gently putting a bony hand on Kratos' shoulder. Kratos didn't respond at first, so Sans settled for waiting for him to cry it out.

"…I don't hate you, kid."

Kratos didn't respond.

"Look, your mom- by the time I worked up the courage she had married Asgore. She was happy, you were happy, I didn't want to-….what was I supposed to say? 'Hey, Tori, I died a bit but I'm back now! Yeah I'm just bones but you had cremated me so, y'know'-"

"She cremated you?" Kratos interrupted, looking up at him.

"…Yeah, kid, that's why I'm…y'know, bones?" Sans sighed.

The skeleton lifted up his shirt, revealing his ribcage. It wasn't pretty, the bones were scarred, knit in several places, and very, very badly burnt. Kratos stared and Sans chuckled weakly, putting his shirt back down.

"I can't really explain how I'm a 'monster' now, it's complicated. Look-…is this really what you want to talk about it right now? I know you want to know, and I guess I owe you answers. Still-…what happened is what's really bothering you right now, right?"

"…I-"

"Kratos!"

The pair looked up to see a slightly winded and flustered Sydna racing down the path at them, in full armor.

"Captain Sydna?" Kratos frowned. "What-?"

"Oh thank God I found you before- look, Kratos, you need to come with me. Right now-"

"Woah woah, cap, what's going on?" Sans asked, getting to his feet.

"I need to escort Kratos back to his mother. Sans, I don't have time for this."

"What's going on?" Kratos asked, now on his feet too. "Where's Mom? What's happening?"

"Listen, you need to come with me- the king- he-…he declared war on humans. He decreed any humans found in the underground must be killed on spot."

Sans' eyesockets went blank and Kratos stared, his face pale.

"W- what? No- he wouldn't- why?!"

"I know it shocking but we don't have time." Sydna snapped, grabbing Kratos' arm. "I need to get you to your mother somewhere safe-"

Kratos' eyes widened and Sydna swore loudly. The captain had been lifted off her feet, her soul now blue and several strange skulls were poised at her, glowing balls of energy in their open mouths.

"What the f-?!"

"Sans?! What are you doing?!"

The small skeleton had a hand outstretched toward the fish-woman, his left eye glowing bright blue.

"Sorry, Syd, but how exactly do we know you ain't gonna hand him over to Asgore yourself, huh?"

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" Sydna snarled, attempting to break free of his magic. "Look, I told Tori I'd protect her kids, I've already failed with two of'em, I'm not going to fail again!"

"Sans! Put her down!" Kratos grabbed his arm. "I know her, she won't hurt me, I trust her!"

Sans eyed him a moment, then dropped Sydna back onto her feet. The woman quickly recovered, pulling Kratos along by his arm.

"We need to go. NOW."

"Where are we even going to go?! Where's Mother?!"

"I'll take you to her. Sans? I know you're going to follow anyway just stay out of sight unless we need you."

Sans was already gone. At least, he appeared to be. Kratos stared at the spot he had just been, then was pulled along by his friend's mother.

In a blur of winding tunnels Sydna led him out of Waterfall, into the snowy area of the underground on the outskirts of their small 'world'. In the snowy woods he was brought to his mother, who threw her arms around him the instant she saw him.

"Kratos! Oh thank goodness, you are not hurt! Quickly, come with me, we have to leave."

"Mother-"

"Not now." Toriel cut him off, dragging him off by the arm. "We will talk once it is safe."

Kratos cast one last glance back at Sydna, who said nothing, watching them disappear into the dark sylvan. He thought he saw a brief flash of blue, then nothing.

* * *

As far as he had known, they hadn't been underground long enough for this area to have been built and abandoned. So it was shocking, to say the least, when his mother showed him the ruins. 'Old Home', it was called. Apparently, this had been the capital when he had been young, it was this city they had lived in when his mother had met Asgore. They had moved it shortly after its creation, as apparently there had been concerns that humans would come down and attack them. Fearing this, the capital had moved to the city where he had grown up, where Asriel had been born, where Asriel and Chara had died…

He didn't recall this place at all; aside from some froggits and the occasional whimsum, the entire place was abandoned. It would be safe here, his mother had told him. No monsters from the outside would venture in here, none would come for him. It may have been 'safe', but it was by no means a happy place here.

Toriel had snatched Chara's body away, burying it in a distant corner of the ruins, a spot where the sun broke through a hole in their dark tomb. She had wanted her to sleep under the stars, his mother said.

It was a miserable existence. They lived, yes, and Sydna as well as several other monsters Toriel trusted smuggled supplies and the like to them, little by little. They had made a home for themselves here, but…it was an empty life. Toriel wept when she thought he was not around, and when she wasn't weeping she listed about their small new 'home', busying herself with tidying and the like. They had not spoken to each other much, he didn't know how to bring anything up to her, or what to say. She did not try and start conversations with him either. They both wallowed in misery together, avoiding each other as much as they hovered around each other.

He didn't know how long it had been, days, weeks, before they had their first real conversation. They were sitting at the table, quietly eating. He glanced up and met his mother's eyes, red irises meeting red irises, just a second. Kratos quickly tore his gaze away, and not an instant later he heard his mother choke down a sob.

The young man twitched, looking back at her. She never cried in front of him, if she could help it…

"I- I am sorry, my child- I-" she covered her mouth with her paws, tears welling up. "I am so sorry, this is all my fault! I could not help Chara, I could not protect Asriel, I could not protect you! I was so foolish!"

She slumped, covering her face with her paws as her shoulders shook with the weight of her sobs.

"I thought Asgore was kind, I never thought he would do something so hateful and stupid!" she shook her head. "I was a fool not to see it. You and Chara, I thought- I thought-"

"Mother…" Kratos said quietly, slowly reaching a paw out to her.

Toriel sprung from her chair, scooping Kratos up and hugging him tightly to her, sobbing.

"I could not protect your brother and sister, I could not protect your father, I could not give you a life you deserved! Oh Kratos, my sweet, dear child, my child…I am so sorry…so sorry…"

Kratos said nothing, returning her hug and closing his eyes. Would she still love him, he wondered? If she remembered what he had done, would she hate him? Asgore had declared war on humans, had he not done the same thing? When he had slaughtered that village, when he had decreed he would wipe them all out? But he would never tell her, he could never tell her, it would just upset her meaninglessly, he would bear the burden, bear his sins, his guilt, so she wouldn't have to know of it. She had enough problems.

There was one thing he could tell her, though, one thing he would deserve hatred for.

"Mother…I can go through." He muttered.

Toriel hushed a bit.

"What?" she pulled back from him a bit, staring down at him.

"I can go through. The barrier." He said, not meeting her eyes. "After Asriel- I went to the barrier, I was mad, I tried to hit it and I went through. I can go through, I could have gone after him, I could have protected him. Mother, I'm so sorry, I could have protected-"

He choked, he didn't realize he had been crying.

"I could have protected him, and I could go through. I could go through right now, I could get the souls and-"

"No."

She pulled him tight again.

"No, my son, no. This is not your burden to bear, you have no responsibility in any of this, you have no obligation to do such a horrible thing for a kingdom that would kill you."

"But I could."

"No." she repeated more firmly. "You would only make more sadness, you would only make more suffering. No, my child, do not soil your soul with such sin…"

He closed his eyes, trembling. He already had. Even if he confessed, would she even believe him? No, he couldn't put her through that, even if she did believe him.

"But…you can leave? Truly, my child? You can pass through?"

He pulled from her this time, looking up at her. He met his mother's eyes- his eyes, he realized- and nodded slowly.

"I can."

She stared at him, her shoulders shaking, her fur damp with tears. Her eyes began to well up again and she took a deep breathe, looking away.

"Then you should go."

He felt as if he had been slammed in the chest with a blunt object. His eyes widened and he choked out a response.

"What? I- you want me to leave? Mother…?"

"I do not want you to leave, of course I do not, I want you with me always," she smiled weakly, tears slipping afresh from her eyes. "But I want you to be safe, I want you to be happy, I want you to live, I want you to be free. Down here…down here you are trapped, even outside the ruins. If you can go to the surface, if you can find your own way, your own life, if you can find new experiences and friends and-…then I want you to go, Kratos. I want you to live."

He shook his head, trembling.

"But what about you? Mother I don't want you to be alone."

"And I do not want you to be miserable. There is nothing left here for you but despair and danger, loss and betrayal."

She bent her knees, crouching down more to his height so she could look him in the eyes.

"I want you to find happiness. Use the gift you have, my child, use it and go live your life."

He clung to her, his tears wetting the fabric of her gown.

"I will be fine, my child," she whispered softly to him, her paw stroking his hair. "You can visit me whenever you wish, I will always be here for you."

So it was not a few days later, he stood in the patch of sunlight where Chara had been put to rest. He looked up at the hole in the rock, at the patches of sky, his throat tight. A pack of supplies his mother had put together sat on his back, and he bore the tear stains of his mother on his shoulder. His eyes were red from tears as well, but he was determined to carry this through. His mother was right, there was no future for him here. Perhaps there was on the surface, perhaps even there was a way to free his mother, if he could find it…

He took a deep breathe, gathering his courage as he scanned the walls for a path to climb up and out. Locating a passable route, he headed for the wall of the cavern.

"You're not coming back this time, are ya?"

Kratos twitched, freezing in mid-step. He turned, staring at the skeleton that stood behind him in the dappled sunlight. Sans looked even more tired than usual, his posture hunched, his eyes downcast.

"…I will, someday." Kratos replied limply.

"Ah, well…okay. I got something for ya, just be careful, okay?"

Kratos blinked and Sans tossed a chunk of metal at him, the young man quickly catching it on reflex.

"What is this?" he blinked, staring at it.

It looked like a beam of metal, nothing special, or functional, even.

"Made it for ya, just need you to do the finishing touch." Sans chuckled softly. "Channel your magic into it, should make it more interesting."

Kratos hesitated but did as he was told. For a moment, nothing happened, then suddenly the bar began to glow bright red, morphing shape as if it was being molded by an unseen potter. Kratos' eyes widened as the metal forged itself into a sword of glowing red and gold, pulsating with fire magic, even the blade's shape was reminiscent of a flame.

"Adapts to your magic," Sans scratched his 'chin' lazily. "Should be useful. So…take care, okay, kid?"

Kratos stared at the blade, then at Sans. He crossed the distance between them in a second, throwing his arms around the small skeleton. Sans tensed but then relaxed, patting his back.

"Be careful, kid."

Kratos said nothing, but nodded.

When the half-breed pulled back, Sans was gone. Kratos was left alone in the cavern, the fire-sword still in his paw. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then went about securing the blade to his side with a bit of rope. He'd have to find or make a better sheath, in time. With one last look to the way he had come, to the doorway that lead to the entire world he had known, he finally began his ascent. To the barrier, to the surface, to the future.


	12. Chapter 12

Months passed, then years, then decades, and before she knew it an entire century had passed since she had last seen her children. A hundred years, since her youngest had died and her eldest had left for the surface. Was he still alive? She didn't know, she didn't even know how long he would- or could- live. Boss monsters lived nearly indefinitely, only aging when they had children, but even then they lived a great while compared to humans.

Was her son still alive? Was he old and content, or had he died right after leaving, killed by some terrified human? A century of isolation had done nothing to bring her peace, yet still everyday she returned to the barrier to see if her son had returned. It was hard to keep track of the days, but there were a few dates she always minded. It was the day before Kratos' birthday, he would be 118, if he was alive. She was just pondering that possibility when something odd happened: there was a knock.

Toriel stared at the doorway, wondering if she had imagined it. Then, again, a knock from the main door. Slowly she rose from her chair and headed for the hall, stopping before the door. Another knock, and she opened the door.

There he was, a grown man, but not elderly in any way. He had the appearance of a human man in the prime of his life, the russet locks still as unruly as they had been the day he had left. There was an added shock to his appearance, however. He looked…human, entirely. His horns were gone, his ears, his paws replaced by human hands and feet, clad in human attire. For a moment she thought perhaps she was dreaming, or she had lost her mind.

A faint smile crossed his face, the red eyes she had given him glowing warmly.

"Hello, Mother," he said.

It didn't matter if it was a dream, or a hallucination, or- whatever. She threw her arms around him, holding him tightly to her. She sobbed tears of joy and she could not recall the last time she had done such. Her son embraced her back and she began to laugh, giddy.

"Oh! Kratos, my child!" she beamed, her eyes still watery. "I have missed you so very much! It has been so long- I- you…look, different."

"Ah," Kratos frowned, pulling back from her. "Yes, that. I have a lot to tell you, I suppose."

"Well come in, come in and I shall make some tea and you can tell me all about it."

She ushered him inside, practically pushing him into the kitchen and into a chair at the table.

"And what timing! I will be able to make your favorite pie for your birthday tomorrow!"

Kratos seemed surprised by that. He twitched a bit, then frowned, his eyes downcast.

"It's tomorrow? I…haven't been keeping track of dates very much as of late."

"Oh you silly boy," she smiled. "I know when your birthday is."

"Right…I…I suppose I'm still surprised I'm that old."

"Old?" Toriel chuckled. "Well I suppose for humans you are, but you are still barely an adult by monster standards, you know."

"I know. I suppose I just wasn't sure how long I was going to live."

"Ah, I see." Toriel frowned, but turned her attention to the tea. "So- Kratos, if I may ask, how is it you look…different?"

She turned back to look at him and he frowned, fidgeting slightly, then looking at her again.

"It's something I discovered I could do, on the surface. I can change, back and forth, but only between two…extremes."

"Extremes?" she rose a brow, frowning.

"…I can shift to look fully human, or fully monster, or anything in between."

She stared at him. Kratos smiled weakly at her, sheepish.

"I would demonstrate but uh, my clothing does not change with me and I'd prefer not to rip my attire as of now."

"I- I had no idea you could do such things." Toriel blinked. "I suppose it is very useful, though, living on the surface."

"It is," Kratos nodded. "Thought it does put a strain of sorts on me, it's rather like constantly flexing a muscle to hold any form that's not my…original."

"Oh, is that so?" Toriel said. "Then why not relax and go back to normal? Oh! Oh dear, perhaps normal is not the right word- I just meant-"

Kratos chuckled, shaking his head.

"It's all right, mother, I know what you mean. I suppose I shall later, when I change attire."

Toriel smiled gently, bringing over the two mugs of tea she had prepared. She offered one to her son and he accepted politely.

"Now, tell me about the surface! What have you been doing? Have you made friends?"

A brief flash of dismay passed over his face and Toriel quickly changed topics.

"What do you like most about the surface? How is the sun?"

That, he seemed more comfortable talking about. She kept her smile and warm demeanor, but she could tell something was wrong. Her son had been through….something, something that was eating at him from the inside, something he was trying to ignore. Well, he would tell her when he was ready, for now she was content to have him with her and make him happy in what ways she could.

* * *

Sans snored loudly from his spot on the couch, half-aware of what was occurring around him. Even when he napped he was almost always aware of his surroundings, old habits were hard to break, especially when they kept you alive- mostly. So he heard when Papyrus came home, and he heard the footsteps of a larger monster follow him in. He peeked an eye open, locking on the newcomer. Both eyes snapped open and he blinked once or twice, then shook his skull. Nope, it was still there.

A boss monster, like Toriel and the king, just barely bigger than Toriel though, with a mess of wild red hair.

"Sans! You are up!" Papyrus exclaimed. "Wonderful! Kratos has come to visit!"

"Kratos?" Sans stared.

The fluffy monster nodded slowly, more than a little awkward.

"You- uh, look…different." Sans finished lamely.

"Yes! He grew his hair out!" Papyrus declared confidently.

There was a moment of silence.

"Yup, sure did, Pap. Hey, so why don't you go to the kitchen and whip up some snacks, huh?"

"Okay!"

Papyrus sped out of the room, leaving the two in the living room.

"Grew your hair out, huh?" Sans rose a brow.

"I, uh, did not wish to fully explain the situation to him in the middle of town," Kratos cleared his throat, flushing slightly.

"Ah. So, uh, did you...just keep changing over the years or….?" Sans rose a brow.

Kratos shook his head, the explained his ability to his old mentor as he had done for his mother the day before.

"Huh. Convenient, eh?" Sans chuckled slightly. "So you can wander around down here without getting any trouble, that's a relief."

Kratos nodded.

"Mother said much the same thing about the surface."

The fluffy-monster frowned at the thought, eyeing Sans, considering something. Just then, however, Papyrus very loudly re-entered the room with a tray of assorted snacks.

"OH MY GOD, SANS! GET OFF THE COUCH SO OUR GUEST CAN SIT! YOU ARE SO LAZY!"

"Shoot, you're right, bro. Sure thing."

Sans winked and rolled off the couch, landing on the carpet with a soft 'plop', followed by loud snoring.

"SANS! OH MY GOD!"

Kratos smiled weakly as Papyrus shouted at his elder brother. Papyrus was a bit of a mystery to him- even moreso than before, anyway. He highly doubted Sans was biologically his brother, but from what he knew about Sans, it implied Papyrus was a human skeleton as well. Did he know about that? He found it unlikely, given that Papyrus didn't seem to know what a human even looked like… He wanted to ask Sans about it, there were a lot of things he wanted to ask Sans, but he would have to wait until he could speak with him in private.

"I AM SO HAPPY YOU'RE VISITING! I SHALL TELL UNDYNE! AND YOUR BIRTHDAY IS IN A COUPLE DAYS, TOO! WE SHALL THROW A PARTY!"

"Uh, that's not necessary-" Kratos began.

"NYEHHEHEHEHEHHE!" Papyrus jumped out the window, running out of sight.

"…He hasn't changed much, I see," Kratos chuckled weakly.

"Nope. Probably went to get Undyne." Sans yawned from his spot on the ground.

Kratos nodded, eying the small skeleton. For a moment he said nothing, but one of Sans' eyes opened up, locking on him.

"Gotta lot you want to talk about, huh, kid?" he sighed, sitting up.

"Yes, I suppose I do."

"Well, got a few minutes before he brings Undyne back…c'mon, I got a spot where we can talk."


	13. Chapter 13

"I didn't know you had this room…"

Sans shrugged, casually pulling up a chair. It was a small room and Kratos, in his monster form, had to hunch a bit to stay in it. He hesitated a moment, looking at the door, then shrank down suddenly. His clothes were baggy but still wearable, and honestly it relieved Sans to see him more as he remembered him: a halfie.

"Guess it was too cramped for ya like that, eh?" Sans chuckled.

"It's more comfortable in my original form anyway," Kratos cracked a faint smile, then frowned. "Sans-"

"Let's cut to the chase, huh?" Sans sighed, rubbing his face. "Pap was originally a human too, he has no clue about any of that, though. Y'see…well, my remains weren't the only ones messed with. Pap and I were both…specimens, for the previous royal scientist, Gaster."

"Gaster?" Kratos frowned. "I-"

"Ya don't remember him. No one does."

Kratos eyed him quizzically but Sans continued before he could dig any deeper.

"Apparently after your mom burned my remains, the ol' Doc dragged my bones off, as well as the…remains of a human infant that had been another causality of the war."

Kratos' frowned deepened and Sans chuckled bitterly, his gaze downcast.

"So shortly after all the monsters ended up underground, I uh, woke up to find I had lost some weight," Sans winked at him. "And then…found out I wasn't the only one."

"I-" Kratos began.

"Should go without saying that I don't want Pap knowing any of this." Sans interrupted, his voice flat. "He doesn't remember being human and I don't want him to, if that's where he came from, y'know? So…do me a favor and don't tell him."

The swordsman hesitated a moment but then nodded.

"I understand. However-?"

"Well the ol' Doc considered us both his uh, 'creations'," Sans eye flickered blue a brief second. "So he went around saying we were his 'sons' and well…when he vanished, I took care of Pap. Someone has to take care of him, and well…he's still my little bro, y'know?"

Kratos nodded once more and Sans sighed, leaning back in the chair, eyes closed.

"Look, I know you got a lot more things to ask, but I'm honestly not up for it right now."

"But- what about Mother?"

"Geez kid, look, I get it but…it'd be even worse of me to show up to her now, wouldn't it? I'd feel like a scumbag, going 'hey it's me your dead lover! I know you're isolating yourself on purpose and you're still grieving about your dead kids and failed marriage, but mind if I come in?' I mean, seriously-…oh geez, kid- I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking…"

His throat had tightened at the mention of his siblings, his mind assaulted with memories of that day, and of the days that followed. He forced himself to take a deep breath and shook his head, frowning.

He had no right to pity himself.

"And I know what else you're going to ask, and yes." Sans said, his eyesockets dark. "You've got quite a spike in LV there…"

Kratos tensed but Sans had already shrugged off the statement.

"That's what happens in war, kiddo," he sighed, the bags under his eyes deepening. "I know plenty of good people with a heap of LV and EXP…soldiers mainly. Or…well, anyone that was in the war. Not to say that I condone what you've done, not at all, just…"

Sans scratched the side of his skull, 'frowning' a moment before looking back at him.

"Well…I kinda owe you, kid, don't I? And I gotta take some of the blame if you've messed up, I mean, it's not like I was very good guidance."

Kratos frowned.

"You don't owe-"

"'Course I do, that at least one job as a dad I can deliver on."

Kratos twitched, staring at him. Sans fidgeted again, shifting his feet.

"Uh- what? Kid- um- you knew that already- didn't you? Uh-"

"Of course I did," Kratos frowned, "But that's the first time you've ever stated it so obviously."

"Huh, guess so." Sans chuckled weakly. "I uh- I won't do it again though, if you don't want me to. Totally get it."

"Well it wouldn't be very wise of you to do so if you intend on keeping this secret."

Sans' face fell slightly but he quickly masked it.

"'Kay, I get ya-"

"But if no one is around, I don't really have the right to tell you how you can address yourself…if you wish."

They exchanged no words, just a brief meeting of the eyes, then Sans turned back to the door.

"Pap's gonna start thinking we got lost, we should head back in."

"Wait- so Papyrus is my uncle?" Kratos twitched slightly, visibly put-off.

Sans winked back at him.

"Technically. Super cool that you have a super cool uncle that is also a super cool friend, eh?"

Sans laughed and continued on; Kratos decided not to dwell too much on the idea.

When the pair returned into the main house, Kratos was nearly knocked back through the wall when he was aggressively hugged by his aquatic friend.

"I THOUGHT YOU FUCKING DIED, DUDE!" Undyne shouted at the top of her lungs, lifting Kratos off his feet in a bear hug.

"Undyne- I have ribs, remember-?" he winced.

"Oh yeah, humans, bones and all that!" Undyne laughed, placing him back on his feet and slapping her hand on his shoulder with enough force to flatten a tin can.

"WOWEE, NOW THAT WE'RE ALL HERE, LET'S GET KRATOS A CAKE AND SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY! NYEH!"

"HELL YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!"

"This isn't really necessary-"

"NYEEEEEEH-!"

"NGGAAAHHH-!"

It was a pointless fight. Kratos resigned himself to his fate and before he knew it he had been forced into a chair, a cheap paper hat strapped to his head, and a lop-sided cake with poorly scrawled 'Happy Birthday Nerd!' written on it (Undyne, obviously, had written the last word). A single unlit candle was placed on the cake, monsters didn't usually use more than one, given their long lifespans. It had been a few decades since he had done something like this, it was odd, but welcome. Kratos allowed himself a small smile as his friends sang loudly- and badly- the traditional birthday song.

"Oh right! Lemme light the candle! Doi!" Undyne laughed.

Undyne, to his shock, produced a flamethrower from seemingly nowhere. He barely had a second to recoil back as his overeager friend set the entire cake up in flames.

"WOW! IT'S BEAUTIFUL!" Papyrus exclaimed, his hands on either side of his face.

"HELL YEAH IT IS!" Undyne crowed.

Kratos stared, somehow shocked and not surprised at all. Sans nudged his arm.

"So uh, wanna go to Grillby's?"

Yes, yes he did.

* * *

Toriel beamed in her delight when Kratos returned, her little tail swishing fervently.

"You are home! I hope you did not have too many sweets with your friends!"

"Trust me that's not an issue," Kratos replied, thinking back to the inferno that was his birthday cake.

"Oh, well that is good. I made your favorite!"

She half led, half dragged Kratos into the kitchen where a large, steaming pie sat on the table. Kratos smiled the most he had in a good century and his mother echoed his delight. It had been far too long, for some reason humans didn't like snails very much.


	14. Chapter 14

Undyne thrummed her fingers on the table, clearly bored out of her mind. She had gotten into the guard, finally, but it wasn't nearly as fun as she thought it would be. There really wasn't much for the guard to really do down here, but she wasn't going to let a bit of boredom stop her from achieving her dream. The last few centuries she had mainly focused on training to eventually become captain, though her mom kept rubbing it in her face that she wasn't good enough to take that position yet.

So for the most part, her days were monotonous, broken up only by visits from Papyrus and- far more rarely- Kratos. Though the halfie only showed up every few decades, it seemed like. Eh, she supposed she could understand that, he was living in hiding with the queen, after all. It was probably not very safe for him to venture out too much, or tell them where they were hiding.

Though of course, when she had found out about his shape-shifting ability, she had wondered why he didn't just stick around in the underground freely like they did. He could look like a purebred monster, after all, why did he have to hide? Undyne sighed; of course he wouldn't want to leave his mother alone, or draw attention to her by sneaking back frequently. That and, well, it's not like there were a ton of boss monsters in the underground. Someone would eventually start to ask too many questions…

Still, it wouldn't kill him to call every once in a while!

An aggressive guitar riff screeched through the air.

"Well speak of the devil," she muttered, answering her phone. "Yeah?"

"HELLO UNDYNE! IT IS I! PAPYRUS! WHO IS GREAT!"

"Ya don't have to YELL Pap! I can hear you fine!" she snapped. "Whaddya want?"

"KRATOS IS VISITING! I THOUGHT PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO THE HANGING OUT WITH US AND YOUR NEW FRIEND!"

"Eh? Y'mean Alphys?"

The yellow monstress was an up-and-coming scientist, already in training to become the next royal scientist. So she was a total nerd, in short, but she was fun to hang around! Even if she was really shy, but eh, she could do with some socializing.

"Sure!" Undyne grinned. "You bring the dork over and I'll get Alphys! 'Kay?"

"OKAY!"

And he hung up. Undyne wasted no time in getting her other guest. More specifically, she ran to Alphys' house, picked the startled reptile up, and ran out yelling that they were going to go hang out with friends.

"'Kay, don't be out too late," Alphys' father, Marty, said from his recliner, flipping the page of his book.

"D- Dad-" Alphys began, stammering.

"IT'LL BE FUN, ALPHYS! C'MON!"

Undyne sprinted out of the house, leaving the door open. Marty sighed, getting up and closing the door before returning to his reading.

"Damn fish is just like her mother, no manners at all…"

In a blur, Alphys found herself seated at the table at Undyne's house, her host loudly talking about her two friends that were going to be joining them. The thought of meeting strangers was terrifying, but if Undyne wanted her to meet her friends, that must mean she liked her at least a little, right? That and she'd do anything if it meant getting to spend time with Undyne, or at least that's what she told herself. Besides, her dad was always trying to tell her she needed to get more experience with people, so…

Nope, still scared. She'd try anyway, though.

"Oh! That should be them!" Undyne grinned, sliding to the door and throwing it open.

"HELLO UNDYNE! I BROUGHT KRATOS! I AM SURE WE SHALL ALL GET ALONG GREAT WITH YOUR NEW FRIEND!"

Oh God, Undyne called her her friend? Don't freak out, don't freak out!

"HELLO! I AM PAPYRUS!" the skeleton came over to her, shaking her claw. "AND THIS IS OUR FRIEND KRATOS!"

Alphys blushed.

A boss monster? Wow, there weren't many of those anymore, and he was so handsome too! He had that unruly hair and that brooding look, oh wow! Just her luck, she was even more nervous around attractive people! No, no, it would be okay. Sure he was really pretty but he wasn't prettier than Undyne! As long as she kept that in mind, she could focus on her goal: hang out with Undyne, don't let her think you're lame, eventually date and marry her. Yup, eyes on the prize.

"Uh, Alphys?"

She shook her head.

"U- Uh, yeah?" she stammered wringing her tail.

"Well Kratos introduced himself and you've just kinda been staring at him," Undyne said, waving her hand in front of Alphys' face.

"Eep! S- Sorry! H- Hi, I'm A- Alphys," Alphys quickly waved, hiding her face.

"Nice to make your acquaintance," he nodded, his head tilted slightly. "Are you Dr. Marty's daughter by any chance? You look a lot like him."

She squeaked a bit.

"E- Er, yeah, you know my dad?"

"Not very well but I've seen him a few times."

She didn't really know how to respond to that, so she didn't. For the most part she really didn't participate in the conversation, but Undyne and Papyrus had a way of making you feel included even if you didn't say a single thing. It was nice, but they were still pretty loud. Kratos didn't talk much either, so she felt a little better about her shyness. Still, he was odd…a boss monster? She didn't know there were any boss monsters outside of the royal family anymore, but- wait. Kratos? Now that she thought of it, wasn't that the name of…?

"The queen's Kratos?! That Kratos?!" she blurted, jumping about a foot out of her chair.

She slammed her claws over her snout, all three gazes locked on her. Oh no oh no oh no oh no she had messed up so bad-!

"WHY YES! KRATOS' MOTHER IS THE QUEEN LADY!" Papyrus declared chipperly.

"Uh, Pap-" Undyne frowned, obviously tensed up.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING! HE LOOKS DIFFERENT! HE GREW HIS HAIR OUT!"

"Oh my freaking God, Pap!" Undyne face-palmed. "WE TALKED ABOUT THIS!"

"NYEH? BUT IT IS THE TRUTH! LYING IS BAD!"

"I- uh- Um- I-" Alphys stammered, wringing her tail.

No wonder she didn't have friends! How could she have screwed this up so bad?! But-!

"Alphys," Kratos himself spoke, frowning. "I understand this is…surprising, but I am going to have to ask you to keep this quiet. If word gets out I won't be able to visit my friends in the Underground anymore, I'm sure you understand?"

"I- I-" Alphys slowly nodded. "S- sure- just- but if you're a monster now, why couldn't you? I- I mean, a lot of monsters wouldn't even believe you were the queen's- I mean- well-"

"I would like to avoid confrontation with Asgore and questions about my mother's whereabouts," he responded flatly, eyes locked with hers.

Alphys squeaked and looked away, huddling up in her own shoulders.

"O- Okay, I- got it, d- don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I- I promise."

Kratos sighed in relief, as did Undyne.

"Thank you, Alphys."

"Yeah! Thanks for understanding, Alphy! You're a real pal!" Undyne grinned, hugging Alphys with one arm.

Alphys turned red.

OHGOSHUNDYNEWASTOUCHINGHER-!

"Uh, Alphys?"

"I'MOKAY!" she blurted. "Okay! Super okay! Yeah! Fine!"

BEST. DAY. EVER.


	15. Chapter 15

"You've been avoiding me, kid…"

Kratos stopped, the snow falling in the silence between them. It was dark in the grove of trees that led to the ruins but not dark enough that one couldn't see someone standing a few feet away. Not normally, anyway, but Sans was always an exception.

"What's it been now? A few hundred years since we last talked? I know you've been here more than that, so…what's the deal?"

Kratos said nothing, his back still to the skeleton.

"Ya mad at me? Or is it…" Sans' eyes flickered blue. "Shame?"

More silence.

"Ya got yourself into quite a shit-show with that Cruxis biz, haven't ya?" Sans sighed. "Given you've been avoiding me, it's probably safe to say you do know what you've been doing is wrong, so then why do you keep at it? Huh?"

"…I'm not coming back after this." Kratos said finally, his voice barely a whisper.

"Runnin' away from us then?"

"I told mother." He stated flatly. "I told her everything, about what I've done, what I helped create, the lives I've ruined…"

"That so? What did she say then, huh?"

"Very much the same thing you did."

"And what did you tell her?"

Kratos finally turned to look at him, his expression downcast.

"That…I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to go against Mithos."

"Y'know he's nuts, so why not?" Sans raised an eyebrow.

"Because he reminded me of Asriel," he said almost immediately. "Because he was like another young sibling, because he had tried so hard to save people and the world took everything from him. He was like Asriel, innocent, hopeful, and like Chara, prejudiced against, abused-"

Kratos' voice caught in his throat and he shook his head, bringing a paw up to his face.

"I couldn't-" his voice cracked again. "I couldn't lose another one, Sans, I couldn't lose another little sibling, I couldn't fail again, I couldn't not protect them, much less turn my blade on them!"

"…But?"

Kratos sighed, his paw dropping as his eyes misted over.

"But you're right, it's wrong, I can't keep playing along with it like everything will go back to the way it was, like it will work out…" he sighed, looking back to the door. "I told mother a long time ago, that I could get the souls, that I could break the barrier. She made me swear to her that I never would. It's foolish, I've destroyed more than enough lives to break it a million times over, but I swore-…"

"That's the problem with promises, huh, kid?"

"Like the one you made Mother?"

It was Sans' turn to flinch.

"Eh?"

"You promised her you would protect any human that came through here, didn't you? You've been talking to her through the door."

"…Guess we're both really bad at letting go of the past, eh?" Sans chuckled bitterly. "Yeah…"

"But Asgore has six souls now."

"…Yeah."

"I see." Kratos frowned. "Mother has told me about the children who've passed through, over the years. I've never been present when one was still here…but it hurts her. Losing one after the other, yet I continued to cling to Mithos…Mother has always been much stronger than me, I suppose."

"She's always been strong in general, yeah," Sans sighed.

"Yes. So I'm not going to come back." Kratos said again. "I don't- I don't belong here, and I don't deserve you all. I don't deserve Mother, or you, or Papyrus and Undyne… I'm not going back to Cruxis, I don't know what I'm going to do, but I don't want draw his attention to the Underground."

"I understand, do what you gotta do."

"I know it won't erase my sins-"

"But you're going to change anyway, so that's the first step."

"Why don't you hate me?"

Sans tilted his head, smiling weakly.

"I'm no saint either, kid. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with you, but…ironically, I really ain't in a position to judge. I've got my share of sins…"

Sans shook his head, sighing.

"But I don't think I could ever hate ya, kid, even if I wanted to."

Silence again.

Slowly Kratos came forward, then took a knee and pulled Sans into a hug.

"Take care of Mother for me," he whispered.

"You don't have to stay away, you don't even have to go-"

"I have to fix what I've done, somehow, I don't know how yet but I need to. I won't find that path here."

Sans returned the hug.

"Doesn't mean ya can't come back after, right? Hehehe…"

"I didn't know you could cry without eyes," Kratos gave a weak 'heh'.

"EYE don't know what you mean there, heheheh-…"

They didn't say much else. Kratos pulled away, gave Sans one last look and then continued into the ruins, out of sight. Sans had a sinking feeling in the pit of his being that that would be the last time he saw him.

For better or for worse, he was wrong.

* * *

A few decades passed, Sans had been sleeping on the couch as usual, when he heard a knock on the door. Given that Pap was out, unfortunately that meant he had to get it. He groaned and slid off the couch, trotting up to the door and lazily swinging it open.

"Yeah-?"

And there was Kratos, somehow looking more lifeless than a literal skeleton like himself. Sans didn't say anything, stepping aside to let him in and then closing the door shut.

"Kid-?"

Kratos collapsed onto his knees, hugging Sans close, sobbing into his hoodie. He kept muttering things, 'I'm sorry', 'I lost them', 'I failed', again and again. Sans fidgeted, unsure of what to do other than his weak attempt at comforting him.

"Uh, kid-?"

"They're dead, my son, my wife, they're dead-"

Sans' eyesockets went dark.

"Kid…."

"They're dead, Father, they're dead…."

Despite the expanse of his vocabulary, he still had no words to offer him.

 **Enjoy your feels trip. Next chapter, Lloyd gets involved :D**


	16. Chapter 16

**Lloyd enters the mix! This should be fun, lord knows I had a ton of fun writing it.**

"Are you sure you will be all right, my child?"

Her son nodded quietly, gathering up the bags his mother had for errands. Toriel frowned, watching her son as he prepared for his excursion. She was glad he was getting out more, that he was visiting his old friends and going off on grocery trips such as this, but…

Five years had passed since her son had stumbled into their home, his eyes bearing the hollow mark of someone who had suffered horrendous loss. He had told her, in his grief, of the human he had fallen in love with, of the child they had had together; how they had both died. Of all the pains one could experience, she had prayed her child would never experience losing his own. It had been difficult even to get him to eat and sleep at first. After a couple years though, she began to start asking him to run errands for her in the Underground. It got him out of their tiny home, it distracted him, it helped him feel some sense of purpose.

"You have the list, yes?" she asked, uneasy with the silence.

"Yes, Mother."

He lifted from his preparations, looking down at her with his usual stoic expression. In his monster form, he was a good head taller than her, it was always an odd change from his usual form.

"Is there anything else you needed?"

Toriel shook her head.

"Just please get those letters to Sydna and the Nurse, and pick up the groceries on your way home." She smiled weakly. "And there is no rush, my child, you can visit with your friends for a bit if you wish."

"Undyne's busy with her captain's duties, but perhaps if I run into Papyrus I might visit just a bit."

"No rush, my child. Just take care."

She hugged him, then waved him off as he left the ruins.

Her smile fell and she sighed heavily, allowing her face to fall. Well, she might as well get around to her own routine as well. So she began her trek through the ruins, to the hole where humans would occasionally fall. Nothing was out of the usual for the most part, that was, until she arrived in the room right before the flower patch…

"DIE!"

"You're mean!"

"NO SHIT!"

That dreadful flower had trapped a human child, keeping them circled by a barrage of pellets.

"He- hey! Wait, don't!" the boy yelped, flailing his arms around.

Toriel acted quickly, driving off the vile weed and saving the child, who stared up at her with an awed expression.

"Are you all right, my child?" she smiled gently at him.

"Y- yeah," the boy blinked, his eyes wide.

Uncanny. The boy looked very much like her Kratos had looked as a child, minus the ears and fur… Wait, how old was he? Could it be-?

"M- Miss?" he blinked.

"Oh! Oh dear, excuse me," she smiled. "I am called Toriel, I am the caretaker of these ruins."

"Ruins?" his nose scrunched up. "Geez I hope no one tells the professor…"

"Hm?"

"So you live down here? Where are we? What are you? Are you a goat? A horned bunny? A long-eared bear?"

"Oh, goodness!" she chuckled awkwardly. "You certainly are inquisitive, my child-"

"What does that mean? Why do you call me your child? You're not my mom," he pouted, confused.

"Well, no, but-" she shook her head. "Perhaps we should go inside and talk? It is not very safe here with that flower about. Come, my home is not far from here, then I shall answer your questions."

"You're not going to eat me are you?"

She couldn't help it, she laughed, shaking her head.

"N- no, I am not going to eat you, I do not eat people. Though if you would like, I could make some pie when we get there?"

"Pie?!"

The boy ran off down the hall.

"Oh! Goodness-! My child, please wait!"

He was certainly a handful.

Still, she managed to catch up to the young human without any difficulty. For the most part things went smoothly, though it was difficult to get a word in edge-wise with the child. He was quite…curious. Nothing of real event happened until the child fell behind her, and a froggit drew near.

Then it got a bit worrisome.

She heard the noises and turned just in time to see the boy slam a stick against the froggit's head, knocking it aside.

"Oh, goodness! My child, stop!"

She ran forward and to her surprise the boy put himself between her and the froggit, brandishing the stick.

"I'll protect you!" he said.

"Goodness! No!"

Toriel scooped him up, the boy wriggling.

"Put me down! It attacked us!"

Toriel looked over and saw the froggit hopping away from the scene, clearly having had enough.

"Listen, my child, I- thank you for trying to 'protect' me but do not hit others, we do not want to hurt anybody, do we?" she scolded him.

He blinked up at her, confused.

"But it attacked us," he said.

Toriel sighed, placing him down on his feet and kneeling down to look at him more easily.

"I understand trying to protect yourself, but dear, monsters down here are…very fragile. If you had hit that froggit again you might have-"

"Killed it?" he blinked. "Well yeah, that's what you do when something attacks you."

Oh dear goodness, what kind of life was this child living?

"But, my child, it is still a life. That froggit has its own family, friends, hopes and dreams- look, next time, try just talking to any monster you run into until I come for you, all right?"

He continued to stare, then looked confused again.

"Talking to it? What do you-" his eyes widened. "You mean it was, like, smart?! Like, it could think?"

"Well, yes, all monsters down here can think, just like you and me."

"That frog was a person?!" his eyes got even larger.

"Er, well, yes."

"Oh." He frowned. "Well I don't want to hurt people, but I don't want them to hurt me either."

He fidgeted, thinking a moment.

"So if I just talk to people down here, they'll leave me alone? I don't have to beat them up?"

Outside the ruins, that would not be the case at all, but it was not like she intended on letting him leave…

"Yes," she said. "Next time, just talk to them until I come over to help you, understand?"

He looked thoughtful again, then nodded.

"Okay, I won't beat up anyone."

"Promise?"

"Sure," he grinned.

Like his father and grandfather before him, Lloyd would soon come to regret that promise.

* * *

Welp, here came the human. Sans yawned, stretching a bit as he eyed the child trotting down the path. Looked a little bit different from the usual kid, but that happened sometimes. Not that appearances really mattered, he'd seen a kid look exactly the same and be a totally different person countless times. Time for his usual little games, he supposed. The routine branch-snap, the routine stopping the child with blue magic, and his usual 'turn around and shake my hand' gig, the kid turning and grabbing his hand-

Woah.

Okay…this was different.

"Hah! It made a fart sound!" the boy laughed, grinning up at him. "I thought you were scary or something!"

Not the usual reaction, no, but he'd had it now and then. The reaction wasn't the interesting part, though. The interesting part was that this human kid greatly resembled a halfie a great many years back. Uncannily, even.

"Eh? You like that, kiddo?" he chuckled, stuffing his hand back in his pocket. "I like people who can laugh at the little things. So, you're a human, right? That's hilarious."

"Hil- what? Like, funny?" he blinked, then pouted. "Why am I funny for being human? You're not funny for being a skeleton."

"No, I'm hilarious for being a skeleton," he winked. "So anyway, kiddo, I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. So what's your name?"

The brown eyes blinked and he grinned again.

"I'm Lloyd! Lloyd the human!"

"I can see that," Sans chuckled. "So yeah, technically I'm supposed to be on the watch for humans right now, but I don't really care about that."

"Oh…that's good. I didn't want to run anymore, it's too much work." Lloyd shrugged.

Kid was after his very heart.

"Yeah, I getcha, kiddo." Sans winked. "But uh, my brother is a bit of a human hunting fanatic-"

"Aw crud, so I do have to run?" Lloyd sighed.

Sans laughed.

"Nah kid, come on, I got you covered, follow me through these bars. My bro made'em too wide to stop anyone."

He led the kid through the usual conveniently shaped lamp shtick, then gave him the clear as soon as Pap had left.

"How did that work!?" he demanded almost immediately.

"Eh?"

"From where you are it covers me but he could see me! I was right there!" Lloyd flailed his arms around, pointing in the direction he indicated. "How did he not see me?!"

"Well-"

"And how did you have a lamp that just happened to be shaped like me?! Why does the shade have spikes?! Why is there a lamp in the middle of the path in a snowy forest?!"

"Woah, easy there kiddo, I don't know how much more the wall can take."

"Th- the what? There's a wall? Where?" Lloyd looked around, flustered.

"The fourth one."

"The what?!"

He was one of those types then, eh? Rare, but not unheard of. The kid probably noticed quick-jumps too. Then again, every kid that did this had some wall-breaking abilities, what with saves, resets and loads and all…

"But yeah, anyway kiddo, I have a favor to ask you-"

"You're not answering me!" Lloyd interrupted, his cheeks puffed up in a pout.

"I do that. But anyway, my bro here has been a bit down lately, and seeing a human would really cheer him up, so uh, why don't you humor him a bit?"

"Humor…him?" Lloyd blinked, confused. "But he didn't seem to like jokes very much."

It took every ounce of self-control he had not to burst out in laughter. This kid was killing him-…well, hopefully he wouldn't turn out to be ones of those, but amusement-wise he was tons of fun.

"No, kid, I mean play along." He winked. "Go through his 'traps' and pretend you're having a hard time figuring out his puzzles, that kind of thing. Don't worry, he's harmless. He talks big but he won't hurt you, promise."

The boy hesitated, looking after where the taller skeleton had gone.

"Well…I guess I have to go that way anyway. Okay, but- he's not gonna try and kill me like that flower did, is he?"

Sans stiffened just a bit.

"Flower? Whatcha talkin' about, kid? But no, don't worry about it. Pap's too nice to hurt anyone."

"Well…ok." Lloyd nodded. "It could be fun!"

"K, kid, see you up ahead."

As per usual, he walked the opposite direction and then warped away. However, that didn't stop him from hearing Lloyd's reaction.

"Hey where are you- WHAT THE HECK!? WHERE DID YOU GO!?"

Classic.

From that point he seemed to be not that different from the usual kids. One of the nice ones, though, thankfully. He had gone to hit back one of the dogs with the stick he had when attacked at first, but when he saw the dogs eager to play fetch, he quickly decided to indulge them. Kid liked dogs, apparently, and was relieved to see that despite the armor, their dogs were basically the same. He even played along with Pap's 'puzzles' without too much incident. So all in all, aside from his appearance, nothing too different had happened, not just yet anyway….

"Sans?"

"Yeah, Pap?" Sans asked, glancing up at his younger brother.

"That human looks an awful lot like Kratos, doesn't he? Or am I imagining things?" Papyrus 'nyeh'ed, his features scrunched up in his 'thinking face'.

"Just 'cause the kid is human you assume he looks like Kratos? Pap that's racist."

"NYEH."

Meanwhile, Kratos had managed to make his way to one of his least favorite places: the Tem Village. Something about those creatures just…irritated him. A lot. Still, he had delivered things to the Nurse before, so he knew how to find her.

"Tori." He stated simply.

"TORI!? WHERE TORI-!? Oh! HOI KWATOS!"

A temmie wearing a smock and a nurse hat vibrated ontop of his head, smacking into both his horns repeatedly.

"I've got a letter from Mother," he said casually, lifting the envelope up to her.

"OHMOIGOISH!" the Tem snatched the letter. "YAYA! TORI LETTER! THANKS KWATOST!"

She jumped off his head, faceplanted into the ground, then skidded away using her back paws.

Tems were very strange.

Just then, his phone rang. He sighed, checking the number and frowning more when he saw it was his mother. Odd, usually she didn't call unless something was wrong. Perhaps she had forgotten something? Or maybe she was just checking on him.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Kratos! Dearest, uh- there is a bit of an…issue."

"Yes? What's wrong?"

"Well, dear, I went to check for humans and I found one, another child, a little boy."

He frowned, but urged her to continue.

"Well I took him back home and let him sleep in the extra room, he was tired from the trip. So I let him sleep and when I came back he was gone! I felt a draft and found the door had been opened, so I am certain the human went off into Snowdin!"

Kratos twitched a bit, thinking of the onslaught of puzzles Papyrus had rigged on the route there. Not to mention the dogs- he shook away the thought.

"Don't worry, Mother, I'll find him and bring him back safely."

"Please do, my child, I worry if the guard finds him."

"I'll call you as soon as I have anything."

He hung up, turning back the way he had come. It shouldn't be too difficult to find a human in the underground, after all.


	17. Chapter 17

**(listens to 10 hour Snowdin track)**

 **Mkay let's do this**

Lloyd stared, wide eyed at the charming little town. It was cold, of course, blanketed in snow and all, but it was nice to see nonetheless. He wandered about, looking at the lights and wondering why a bunny was walking another bunny on a leash. His nose twitched as he detected the sweet aroma of cinnabuns, trailing the scent back to its source where yet another bunny was running shop.

"Hey there, kid," she smiled. "Would you like to buy a bun?"

Lloyd nodded enthusiastically, slipping her some of the money he had collected. For some reason, monsters just dropped money when they left, he didn't get it but he wasn't going to complain.

Lloyd left the shop, happily munching the pastry. It warmed him up pretty good, but it was still cold. Hopefully all of this place wasn't cold. So far he hadn't found a way back out, so he would have to press onward. He knew he should've left a note for Toriel, but he was in a hurry. His father would be worried about him by now. So would his friends, in retrospect he shouldn't have wandered so far into the woods.

That was another weird thing he didn't get: the monsters all said they were under a place called 'Mt Ebott', as in…a mountain. There were no mountains around Iselia, and he had been in the forest, not a mountain… It didn't make any sense, maybe the monsters were just wrong? Or…hm, he didn't know. He pondered that as he continued down the snowy path, where suddenly, everything went white. Lloyd yelped a bit, looking around. Where was the path? Where was he-?

He slipped and fell, crashing into icy water. Desperately he scrambled in the dark water, trying to surface. He was all turned around, where was the surface!? It was cold, too cold, he was already cold-

Then, somehow, it got even darker.

He found himself in a black void, with…nothing. There was no water, but there was no air either. There was no cold, or heat, or anything. His panic escalated, the boy attempting to move, to do anything at all; but there was nothing.

 ***Stay Determined**

Huh?! What was that?

A flash of red light and then a heart floated in front of him, shining brightly in the darkness. How he did it, he wasn't quite sure, but somehow he just knew what to do.

Another flash.

He was back on the snowy path. He yelped, hugging himself tightly as he looked around attempting to figure out what had just happened. Moving didn't seem like a good idea, he didn't want to fall into the water again- yet somehow he was dry? This place didn't make any sense at all! Okay, okay, but what could he do? Dang it, it was so cold-

He sneezed loudly, the sound echoing in the fog.

Then:

"NYEH? OH GOODNESS! HUMAN! ARE YOU COLD? I FORGOT HUMANS CAN GET COLD!"

Before he realized what had happened, Papyrus was standing in front of him, looking quite concerned.

"AND YOU HAVE BEEN WANDERING AROUND THE SNOW WITHOUT MITTENS OR A SWEATER! GOODNESS!" Papyrus' eyes bugged out of his head (Lloyd wondered where the eyes came from). "NO NO! THIS WILL NOT DO AT ALL!"

Lloyd yelped, hoisted up into the skeleton's arms.

"W- wait-!"

"NYEH!"

The speed at which the guard-hopeful ran was enough to give him whiplash but quite suddenly they were in a house, a warm house, for which Lloyd was grateful.

"THIS IS MY HOME!" Papyrus announced.

Lloyd didn't get a word in before his host swaddled him in blankets and then set him snuggly on the sofa, tucking a pillow behind his head.

"THERE YOU GO! I SHALL MAKE YOU SOUP! SOUP IS GOOD FOR SICK HUMANS YES?"

"I- yeah," Lloyd blinked, confused.

"VERY WELL! I SHALL MAKE YOU THE SOUP I ALWAYS MADE FOR MY DEAR FRIEND WHEN HE GOT SICK FROM PLAYING IN THE SNOW! HE WAS HUMANY TOO, YOU SEE!"

And then he was gone again, he sure was fast. The sounds of clambering were heard from what Lloyd assumed was the kitchen and he wriggled a bit, trying to get loose from the blankets. They were warm, which was nice, but he couldn't get out of them.

"Uh, little wrapped up there, huh kid?"

It was Sans again. Lloyd blinked, then pouted.

"Yeah. Can you help me get out of this? I'm stuck."

"Guess you'll have to stick around a while, huh?" Sans winked.

Lloyd groaned.

"Okay, okay! You like jokes! Please help me!"

"Eh, maybe when Pap brings you the soup." Sans shrugged.

The skeleton plopped down next to him on the sofa, produced a bottle of ketchup and began drinking it. Lloyd's expression shifted to one of pure horror, the color bleeding from his face.

"I- Is that- ketchup?" he whispered, looking as if he would faint.

"Yup. Want some?"

"NO! EW! OH MY GOSH! EW!" he wriggled frantically, screaming. "GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS!"

"Don't like tomatoes, huh kid?" Sans rose a brow.

Lloyd flopped over so his face was in the armrest, then let out a muffled scream of disgust-driven fear.

"Guess that answers that," Sans shrugged, pocketing the bottle. "I know some food you probably will like though, c'mon."

"Huh? Where-?"

Lloyd didn't even have time to blink when suddenly he was seated on a stool in front of a table, a man made of fire casually cleaning a glass in front of him. He yelped, nearly falling backwards when a bony hand gently pushed him back onto his seat.

"Chill out, kid, it's just a restaurant, you're hungry right?"

"How did we get here?!" Lloyd hollered, looking around frantically. "I-…wait! You said Papyrus was going to make food anyway, so-?"

"Pap's really great, kid, but uh- cooking isn't his strong point, let's just say. So go ahead and order something from here, my treat." He shrugged, passing Lloyd a menu.

Lloyd stared at it, fidgeting, then lowered his head with a blush.

"Um, I um- I'm not really good at reading…" he mumbled, eyes downcast.

"No? Hm, okay then, I didn't learn to read until I was an adult either, don't beat yourself up too much." Sans patted his head. "We'll just get two burgers, 'kay? No tomatoes on yours."

Lloyd eyed him but as soon as the food arrived he seemed to forget his doubts. The boy loudly and vigorously chomped down on the burger, clearly happy with his lunch. Sans eyed him, putting together the evidence in his head. Yeah...he was hardly ever wrong these days, and it was really starting to add up. The kid was the kid's kid. That had to be the case, but he couldn't jump the gun on this one. If he told Kratos this and it turned out he was wrong…no, he had to be 100% sure. Still, damn if the kid didn't fit the criteria. The right age, the similar face shape, the hair, the smile; sure it had been a while since he had seen Kratos smile like that but he wasn't about to forget it. He never forgot anything.

"So kiddo, what's next for you?"

"Hm?" he blinked, staring at him with a mouth full of food.

"Like…where you gonna go? You gonna try to get back to the surface or what?"

Lloyd swallowed, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"I have to go back home, I know there's a barrier or something but I'll get out somehow," he shrugged, clearly not too worried about the whole thing.

"How?"

"Somehow, I dunno, I'll figure it out," he said, then took another mouthful.

"Okay then, well…be careful okay?"

"Okay!"

The kid had refocused entirely on the food. All right then, he would just keep up his usual stalking act for now.

* * *

Kratos scanned the outskirts of Snowdin, but saw no signs of any human activity. Unless Papyrus had caught them…well, as unlikely as that would be, it was worth asking him. He knocked on the door to the Skelebros house and was nearly instantly answered.

"HELLO KRATOS! I SEE YOU HAVE COME TO VISIT! COME IN!"

Papyrus somehow yanked him inside and made him sit down, Kratos slightly embarrassed by the whole thing.

"Papyrus, I need to talk to you. Have you seen a human-?"

"WHAT? WHY YES, I HAVE! THE HUMAN IS MY FRIEND NOW, YOU SEE! HE WENT TO WATERFALL!" Papyrus blurted out.

"Waterfall?" Kratos frowned.

How had he missed them?

"INDEED!"

"…Isn't Undyne patrolling there today?"

"INDEED!"

Kratos left quickly, hastily giving Papyrus a believable excuse (which to be fair, wasn't hard for said skeleton) and then making his way back the way he had come. If Undyne found the child first, he had no doubt what would happen. If there was any way at all that he could spare his mother from another loss, he had to do everything he could. Perhaps he would at least be able to save one child, then…

No, focus, get moving.

He scoured the area and found nothing to indicate the human or Undyne had been though there. That was probably good news, then. After a good half hour of searching with no results, he finally came across someone. Unfortunately, it wasn't someone he was very keen on finding.

"Well, well, if it isn't the queen's little bastard!"

On reflex he formed fire in his claw, turning toward the source of the voice. That damn weed again, for some reason it greatly enjoyed taunting him when he was alone…

"Have you nothing better to do with your time, plant?" Kratos snarled slightly, red eyes attempting to locate the flower in the dark tunnel.

"I'm a plant, dumbass, no I don't." the voice sneered from the shadows. "You usually don't have much to do with yourself either, do you? You pathetic piece of shit. Soooo….I am curious what's got you out and about, hm? I don't think you're doing chores for mommy."

"I have no need to explain anything to you, nor anyone." Kratos snorted, turning back toward his path.

" 'Nor'? Geez with that stuffy-ass language you'd think you were a legitimate royal! Well, if anything you have more of a spine than the old fool in the castle, at least a little bit."

Kratos continued on his path, set on ignoring him. He had fought the little beast before, he was dangerous, but not enough that he had to drop the task at hand. If it tried anything, he would fight it off, simple as that.

"It's about that human brat, isn't it? Awww, poor half-breed freak, you always gotta try to save the children, don't you?" the voice burst out laughing. "You do a great job! I think every kid you've ever known the name of has died because you couldn't protect them!"

Kratos faltered, stopping in his path. No, no no no, that was how he worked, he got into your head and then tore you apart when you were distracted. Keep moving, don't think about it, don't think about all of them-

"This one's a real interesting one though, did you know? He calls himself 'Lloyd', what a stupid name, don't you think?"

Lloyd-?! No. No it couldn't be- but how else could this little demon know? How-?

"And such a stupid kid! He can't even read! What a dumbass! And he thinks he's gonna waltz right through the barrier! Can you believe that?! How dumb do you have to be?!"

Lloyd, how old was he? What did he look like? How could- could it be? What if- no-

"Well he's not gonna get that far, anyway," the flower laughed. "I'm gonna have a little fun with him. Well, if there's anything left of him after the fish-bitch is done with him! Speaking of which…."

The sound of crashing magic spears and yelling reverberated down the tunnels.

"Uhp, better get going, bastard! Ahahahhahahah!"

He broke off into a run.


	18. Chapter 18

For what felt like the hundredth time, Lloyd experienced death. His little red heart-soul broke in two, a voice told him to stay determined, and there he was again. This fish-lady wouldn't give him a break! He'd memorized the path by now but still she always caught him. He had tried to fight her a couple of times, that never got him any further than running. He attempted to talk to her like Toriel had said, and that didn't help in the slightest. What else could he do? He couldn't beat her, he couldn't talk to her, he just had to keep running away…at least he had a lot of tries, even if they were painful.

So he was running, again, streaking by the waterside through the tall grass-

He tripped and tumbled into the river; again. At least it wasn't as cold as before, but he still scrambled back for land. If the fish-lady could catch him running, she surely could catch him faster swimming. So he flopped out of the water, sputtering, attempting to move his hair from his eyes so he could see. He cleared one eye just in time to look up at the end of a spear held by the glowering fish-woman.

Crud, looks like he was going to have to reset again.

He braced himself, waiting for the monster to lay the spear into him, but nothing happened. He blinked slowly, staring up at her. Why was she not moving? She was looking at him funny…

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up off the ground to eye-level with her. Lloyd yelped and flailed, attempting to get free of her.

"Put me down! Put me down!" he shouted.

She didn't respond.

"Looks familiar, don't he?"

Wait. That voice. Lloyd and the guard both turned to see Sans casually standing with them in the grass, looking as lax as usual.

"You saw this kid already?" she snapped.

"Geez, Undyne, chill, yeah I saw him but uh...well, look at him. Definitely shares a resemblance, yeah?" Sans shrugged, eying her.

"Are you saying this little human brat is… _his_ human brat?" Undyne twitched, her voice a low hiss.

"That's what my guess is, yeah." Sans nodded.

"Are you kidding me?!" she shrieked. "Oh SURE! The bastard can't be bothered to go up and grab a few souls for us but he can go up and breed up a punkling just fine!"

"Woah, Undies, language. There's a kid present."

"I don't give a f-!" she cut off, eying Lloyd. "…fish."

Lloyd blinked, even more confused.

"But you are a fish."

Sans burst out laughing and Undyne let out a loud shout of pure irritation. She started yelling at Sans, but Sans wasn't looking at her. He looked right at Lloyd, and winked, and then- well then Lloyd was somewhere else.

Lloyd yelped and landed in a much brighter, redder area, that was a lot, lot hotter. He jumped up off the ground, rubbing his burnt rump and looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. Where was he? How did he just appear here? It was probably Sans, he pouted, thinking back to when he had taken him on a 'shortcut' to Grillby's. So Sans saved him from the fish-lady? Well, no complaints here. If he had to take a guess, he was probably in 'Hotland', because well, it was hot. Like, really hot…ew. Well it meant he was closer to this barrier or whatever.

The boy looked around and then down the path before him, which lead to a large building labeled 'lab'. There was another path but there were guards there, so…to the lab! Whatever a lab was. Still, he meandered his way into the facility, peering into the dimly lit building. Was anyone even there? It didn't look like it.

"Hello?" he asked, slowly walking in. "Is anyone here?"

Probably not a smart thing to do, given most monsters wanted him dead, but he'd just do that load thing and come back if that was the case, then avoid this place. He ventured in further, and to his surprise found a large screen with…him, on it? It was a- um, 'tv' Papyrus had said. Wait, why was he on this thing? That didn't-

The lights flashed on.

"Oh- Oh my gosh, y- you're here, uhm-"

A short yellow monster that looked like a lizard had showed up.

"I- uh- hi, I- I'm Dr. Alphys, I've been watching you- I mean not in a creepy way- I mean- I j ust I've seen your journey and- uh-"

She was really rambly and she looked scared of something. Was she afraid of him? That was weird, he didn't think he had done anything to scare her.

"Hi," he said, waving at her.

She squeaked a bit, was that normal?

"H- H- Hi," she squeaked again.

"Uh, hi, so can I go through here? I'm Lloyd, by the way."

"Uh- of- of course you can go through here, I just- uhm- look, there's this robot-"

The building shook.

"Oh no."

* * *

He didn't care for hotland very much at all. When you were covered in fur it was quite an ordeal, if he hadn't been fire elemented it would have been straight-up unbearable, he imagined. He had scoured the tunnels of Waterfall, but had found no sign of the human or Undyne. He had checked the captain's home and ask Napstablook if he had seen anything. The shy ghost mentioned meeting the child back in the ruins earlier that day, but claimed not to have seen him since then. How could he have gotten through Waterfall if he hadn't gone through the town? He asked Gerson, the duck by the gap, even questioned a Temmie or two, but none of them had seen a human. It didn't make sense, he would have seen him if he headed back to Snowdin, and someone would've seen him going through Waterfall… The only way he could possibly have done this would be if he skipped this section entirely-…

That wasn't outside the realm of possibility. He didn't really have the time to try to get details on that matter, however, so he headed for the riverperson's dock.

"Tra la la, hello, mix-soul!" the cloaked figure chirped. "Water sure is wet today, isn't it?"

"I did ask you to not call me that, didn't I? Nevermind, I need to get to Hotland."

"All right, tra la la, climb aboard!"

He was already uncomfortable by the time they got to the dock, stepping out onto the hot stone.

"Tra la la, things lost may show up again, but things thrown away never come back."

Kratos hesitated but continued on, knowing it was pointless to try and get the entity to explain.

So, there he was, striding into Alphys' lab. Unless the guards down the other path had seized the child, he had to have come through here-

He froze.

The screen on Alphys' wall showed a brown-haired boy musing over a steam puzzle, clearly frustrated with it. The plan had said his name was Lloyd, hadn't he? His heart sank in his chest, staring at the confused child. Was it? He didn't know if he wanted to let himself believe it.

"K- Kratos! Uh- uhm-"

He turned his attention to Alphys, who wrung her tail, looking up at him.

"I- I uh- is…is he yours? I mean- I know he – um- well I might've scanned him before he left and um- he is yours, th- that's what the test said. So yeah, um, he's your son, right?"

"Where is he? What part of Hotland is this? I need to get there. Now."

"I- uh- that's- around- oh no."

Kratos frowned and redirected his attention to the screen. The boy had wandered into an area that evidentially was now…the set of a news show? And that Mettaton contraption was hosting it, saying something about-…bombs.

Kratos twitched, Alphys whimpered.

"Where are they!?"

Alphys quickly blurted out the area and Kratos ran out of the lab, the nerve-wracked monstress collapsing onto her chair, trembling. Oh God, she had to call this whole thing with Mettaton off! Kratos would kill her if he found out she orchestrated this! But- but no it was in the middle of one of their meetings, it would be suspicious if she called it off right now. Okay, okay, she'd get the human out of this mess, then as soon as she could, she'd clear all of this up.

If Kratos didn't destroy Mettaton first.


	19. Chapter 19

He hadn't expected such a place in 'Hotland', but there he was, a dark room filled with cobwebs and what appeared to be a bake sale. Oh yeah, he remembered seeing something about this in the ruins.

"Hello, Dearie! Care to buy a pastry?"

The boy nodded eagerly, standing on his tip-toes to eye the assortment of baked goods the spider-lady had assembled. He was starving! Everything looked good- if a bit…rubbery. After a minute he picked one out, asking the monstress how much it was.

"Just 99,999G!" she chirped.

Lloyd's color fled his face as quickly as his appetite fled his stomach.

"Er- um- no thank you, I changed my mind."

"Oh? That's cruel, dearie, to get a lady's hopes up like that…" her multiple eyes narrowed on him.

"Er- I'm sorry, I just don't have enough, maybe next time?" he rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish.

The spiderlady blinked, tilting her head to the side.

"You look rather familiar for a human…I don't recall meeting a human, though, how odd…."

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked.

"Oh! I know!"

The spiderling reached under her table and pulled out- from somewhere- a tomato, shoving it into Lloyd's face.

He yelped and fell backwards, scrambling away from the devil fruit.

"Oh, my!" Muffet blinked each of her eyes individually. "Why, you're not a human at all! At least, not entirely, there'd be no point in taking your soul…also dear Krattie would be very upset with me, oh dear…"

"Huh?! What does that have to do with the tomato?!"

Muffet giggled and slipped the fruit away under her table again.

"Why do you even have tomatoes at a bake sale?!"

"I usually use them to blackmail a certain friend of ours into helping," she giggled, her demeanor now downright cheerful. "But never you mind, go ahead and proceed, I won't get in your way."

Lloyd didn't quite understand what had just happened, but he knew he didn't care enough to find out. The boy was off like a shot, further into the depths of Hotland.

* * *

Kratos snarled in frustration, set back for what felt like the millionth time. If that damn plant kept this up he'd pluck its petals off one by one. Every single time he was set back a room, a few feet, even an inch was agonizing. The damn weed had probably killed him a dozen times by now, not to mention how many Undyne- no- he just had to keep trying. As frustrating as this all was…

"Kid?"

In his current mood he didn't even pause to reply, continuing on his path through the scorching sector.

"Kid."

Sans had to choose now of all times to delay him? He didn't have time for this-

"KID!"

He was lifted off the ground, his eyes widening just a second before he snarled toward the voice of his mentor, glowering.

"I don't have time for this, Sans, put me down-"

"Kid, I know you're worried but-"

"I can't keep doing this!" Kratos snapped. "I can't-"

Abruptly, Kratos was alone, back down the path several meters. He swore loudly, then attempted to sprint off again only to be levitated via blue magic a second time.

"Kid, I know you're worried but-" Sans began again.

"He just died again! I am not going to just sit here and-"

Sans' eyesockets went dark and Kratos froze, realizing his blunder. Sans said nothing, Kratos said nothing, the two merely existing there in silence.

"Kid…what do you…?" the lights flickered back into Sans' sockets, a strange look of horror portrayed through a grinning skull. "Do you…remember? The resets- you remember them?"

Kratos said nothing a moment or two, then sighed, averting his eyes.

"I had a feeling you did, since the incident when I took the souls…" Kratos said quietly. "But yes, I do. I wasn't certain if you did or not, or if you'd answer me should I ask."

There was more silence and Kratos found his feet back on the ground. He didn't look at the skeleton, but he didn't move just yet, hesitant to do so.

"You remember them, kid? All of them? Even the ones where…?"

Kratos continued off again.

"I'm sorry, Sans, I can't talk about this right now."

Sans stood in place, frozen, as his son ran down the rocky path. Of all the things he hadn't wanted him to experience, of all the things he already had- this? This too? Why? Was it his fault, somehow? Was it because Kratos had used the power of souls to reset once himself? It didn't really matter how, he supposed…either way, his child was sharing his hell.

* * *

Lloyd wandered into the room, suspicious of the strange building that looked very much like a part of a play. He had seen a poster for a 'musical' earlier on, maybe that had something to do with it? But the poster had that robot on it…

Maybe he should turn around for now-

And there was an electric thingie again, great. Not only that but there was…music? Huh?

"Oh! My love!"

And the crazy robot was in a dress now. How was it going to kill him in a dress? Wouldn't it trip? Then again it didn't really have legs to trip up on, right? Robots were weird.

"You're gonna die!" the robot sang.

"Oh not again-"

"It'll suck!"

"No kidding-!"

"And then you'll die a lot!"

"I ALREADY HAVE!"

The boy awkwardly avoided the robot's 'dance', trying to locate an exit. The path was blocked, maybe he could climb up that tower thing and there was a way through there? If he did and there wasn't he'd be stuck with even less room though, drat. Maybe-

The floor opened up under him.

Oh.

"Aaah-!" Lloyd yelled as he fell down the trap, then landed roughly on yet another hard piece of ground. "Ooww…why do I keep falling all the time?!"

"Oh, how tragic!" Mettaton laughed. "It's so sad, I can't stop laughing!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" he cried.

"Now then, if you want to get out of here alive, you'll have to pass this puzzle!"

"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PUZZLES?! I HOPE I NEVER SEE ANOTHER PUZZLE AGAIN!"

Of course, Lloyd was unaware of the many, many puzzles that awaited him in the future, especially in the Tethe'Allan temples, but at least he would get a break once his excursion in the Underground was done.

"Now! The rules of this puzzle- wait! You've seen this before, haven't you? Then I don't have to repeat the rules!"

"That's not fair there were like a million rules!"

"Uhp, none of that. Now, get ready, set…go! Or don't and get burned by the fire chasing you, your choice!"

Lloyd didn't bother to look and see if there was fire behind him, he could feel the heat of it just fine. He was horrible at puzzles, and this one was so complicated! There was no way he was going to get out of this stupid- ugh, he was going to have to reset a lot again, huh? He didn't want to burn to death again, he already did that like a dozen times today, those vulkins and pyropes were way too quick to throw lava everywhere. So he did his best, stumbling through the puzzle and trying to keep ahead of yet another impending death.

"Oh dear! Time's up!" Mettaton laughed. "Guess it's time to die!"

He skid to a halt, eyes wide at the second wall of fire that had showed up before him. Great, he was going to roast for sure now. He really, really didn't want to die again, but what other options did he have? He could jump, maybe? But-

A big pair of fluffy white paws snatched him off his feet and the next thing he knew he was hurling through the air over the flames. On instinct he yelped, clinging to his rescuer as they touched down safely on the other side.

"What-? Well well, my lovelies! It looks like the human has a last minute hero! What a shocking twist!"

"You like shocks then? Very well," a deep voice spoke.

There was a flash of bright light and Lloyd blocked it from his eyes with his hand, attempting to peer out and see what was happening. Several bolts of lightning had come from nowhere, striking at the killer robot. Miraculously, the mechanized murderer dodged them, all while flailing his arms around.

"Well! How rude! How could you possibly attack such a beautiful form!?"

Lloyd stared, wide-eyed as the fluffy horned monster, conjured a blade seemingly made of flames into his claw, pointing it at his attacker.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't tear you apart."

He was so cool.


End file.
